As Buffs Set To Host Stanford, Montez In Position To Claim Records
November 08, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Outside of the head coach, there is no bigger lightning rod for criticism on a football field than the quarterback.
Colorado quarterback Steven Montez knows this only too well. While the Buffaloes senior has etched his name into the CU record books in virtually every significant passing category, he has also always borne the brunt of criticism when the Buffs have struggled.
"It comes with the position," Montez said recently. "If you don't want to be criticized, don't play quarterback. It's that simple. Take those criticisms. I mean get better from them, ignore them, whatever you want to do with them."
Montez's performance will no doubt continue to be a matter of debate among Buffs faithful.
But this much we do know: With three regular season games remaining, beginning with Saturday's 1 p.m. matchup with Stanford at Folsom Field (Pac-12 Networks), Montez is poised to become CU's all-time leader in several categories.
— He is currently tied for the all-time lead in touchdown passes (60) with former CU teammate Sefo Liufau and Cody Hawkins, meaning his next touchdown pass will put him atop the Buffaloes' career list.
— He is second in all-time passing yards list, needing just 486 yards to surpass Liufau's record of 9,568.
— He is second on the all-time total offense mark, needing 542 to move past Liufau's 10,509.
But by his own admission, he has had yet another up-and-down season in his last year as a Buff. He would love to have one of those "up" games Saturday as Colorado aims to end a five-game skid.
Montez has had three 300-yard passing games this year, five games with at least two touchdown passes and two games with three. He was instrumental in CU's wins over Colorado State, Nebraska and Arizona State, throwing for seven touchdowns and just one interception in those games.
But he also struggled against Oregon and Washington State, games in which he had no touchdowns and six interceptions.
Still, CU head coach Mel Tucker hasn't wavered when it comes to his starter. Asked earlier this week if he was considering making a quarterback change, Tucker was adamant.
"I'm very confident that Steven gives us our best chance," he said. "We'll work with him to get him better. He's obviously got to make great decisions, got to take care of the football. He missed a couple throws (last week against UCLA), had a couple of poor reads, but he also made some good plays. We have to play better around him."
Indeed, along with those errant throws, Montez was also victimized by some drops early in the game that could have extended drives.Â
Montez is already second on the CU all-time starts list at quarterback with 36 and he owns the record for consecutive starts at the spot with 33. But there are other numbers that are also indicative of his play over the years, numbers that might surprise some people, given the criticism he has faced:
— Of the top four passers in CU history — Liufau, Montez, Hawkins and Joel Klatt — Montez has the best career quarterback rating (135.58); and he is fourth in the top 10, trailing only Koy Detmer, Mike Moschetti and Kordell Stwart.
— Montez has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of any quarterback on CU's all-time top 10 list, currently with 60 touchdowns and 31 interceptions.
— He currently has the fewest interceptions of any CU quarterback with at least 1,000 career passing attempts and the fewest of any of the top four passers on the all-time list.
— His career completion percentage of 62.4 is second-best of all quarterbacks on CU's career passing list, trailing only Liufau's 62.9.
BUFFS VS. STANFORD
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Colorado's front seven against Stanford's offensive line. The Cardinal has given up 20 sacks this season while also struggling to establish any kind of consistency in a run game (just 119.3 yards per game on the ground). But Stanford is still averaging more than 34 minutes per game time of possession, 10th best in the nation. If the Buffs can halt Stanford's run game and force the Cardinal to the air, CU can limit Stanford's possession time and give the Colorado offense some extra opportunities with the ball.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Colorado linebacker Nate Landman. Lost in last week's defeat at UCLA was the CU junior's best game of the season, a performance that included 15 tackles and two sacks. If Landman has another day like that against Stanford, it will be a big piece in keeping the Cardinal's offense in check.
THE SERIES: Stanford leads the all-time series, 6-4, including a 3-1 edge in Pac-12 games. The Buff, however, won the last encounter, a 10-5 win in Stanford in 2016..
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Kickoff: 1:10 p.m. (MST), Folsom Field (50,183)
Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks will carry the telecast with Guy Haberman on play-by-play, Anthony Herron on color commentary and Jill Savage on the sidelines. KOA 850 radio will carry the broadcast with Voice of the Buffs Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett and Andy Lindahl.
In-game live blog, stats: A live in-game blog as well as continually updated statistics will be available on www.CUBuffs.com
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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