The Colorado Buffaloes got their signature win a week later than I predicted but the big thing coming out of the last two Pac-12 wins was the play of redshirt freshman Steven Montez. The future is set for the buffs with this young quarterback from El Paso, Texas.

Current 4 year starter Sefo Liufau, 6’6” 230lbs, is a mobile quarterback and can make plays with his feet as well as with his rocket right arm. Montez is pretty much the same size, 6’5” 225lbs, but is more athletic and made even more plays than Sefo usually does. Montez had to play in the Michigan game and played about a quarter and a half and went 0-7 and looked rattled and not prepared to play in The Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

With a week of preparation he looked like a different player against Oregon and dismissed all the doubters. He threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns. While he did throw 2 interceptions in the 3rd quarter, he bounced back and played well in the 4th quarter leading the buffs to a very important win against Oregon. The most impressive stat for Montez was the fact that he ran for 135 yards which was better than the second leading rusher, Phillip Lindsay, who had 72 yards.The next week Montez played mostly 3 quarters against Oregon State and he looked good again. The biggest difference was no turnovers. His growth over the past 3 weeks is impressive and makes the future for the buffs a lot less up in the air.

Regardless of who plays this week against USC, whether it’s Sefo or Montez. Buff fans you should feel confident with whoever is behind center. This is a big week for the buffs. If they win they will solidify their Pac-12 hopes. USC is coming off playing their best game of the year in beating the Arizona State Sun Devils 40-21. It was their first quality win of the year and they did so in dominating fashion. It is always hard to go to the Colosseum and come away with a win, if they do so they have a chance to run the table. I believe the buffs have the chance to win the Pac-12 South but they can’t overlook anyone, especially not this USC team this weekend. USC started the year with QB Max Browne and got off to a slow start. So they switched QBs to the redshirt freshman Sam Darnold and he got his second start last week against Arizona State and he made it count. USC dominated the Sun Devils mostly in large part because of the quarterback change. Darnold threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns last weekend and impressed the week before against Utah in his first start for the Trojans but it wasn’t enough to secure a victory against the ranked, number 24 Utah Utes. This week he will face a very good Colorado secondary. The matchup to watch this week is Chidobe Awuzie vs. JuJu Smith-Schuster. JuJu is a very explosive receiver that makes a lot plays while “Chido” is one of the best corners in college football. The buffs also have another elite corner in Ahkello Witherspoon so if USC moves Smith-Schuster around the buffs have enough confidence in both corners to guard JuJu. The buffs haven’t allowed many big pass plays down the field through the first 5 weeks so that is something to watch for against the Trojans this Saturday.

Anyways, back to the future, the buffs were looking for a QB for the future and they definitely have found him in Steven Montez. Montez has all the tools to become an incredible player for the buffs and he will only improve as he becomes more experienced.
Buff fans you should be excited! Not only for the rest of this season but also for the future. Let’s keep climbing up those rankings!