PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Steven Montez needs 321 yards to reach 3,000 passing yards on the year. The junior saw a string of three-straight 300-yard efforts broken last week with 195 yards and just his third touchdown-less game of the year. All this is contingent upon Montez seeing the field. Montez left last game with a leg injury and his status entering the contest on Saturday remains questionable.
–WR Jay MacInytre, son of departed head coach Mike MacIntyre, still has at least one game left on the Colorado sidelines. The senior enters his final regular season contest the owner of 1,057 career yards (165 yards this year) and six touchdowns, two of which came earlier in the year against Nebraska. “If his dad were in practice today seeing how hard he’s working through the circumstances, he would be beyond proud of him,” Colorado quarterback Steven Montez said.
–LB Nate Landman registered a team-high 14 tackles against Utah. The sophomore’s 100 tackles on the year leads the Buffs and ranks him seventh overall in the Pac-12. His 1.5 tackles-for-loss versus the Utes gives him 14.5 for the season, including four sacks.
–DE Mustafa Johnson has impressed in his first year in Boulder. The sophomore from Modesto Junior College picked up a pair of tackles-for-loss in the Buffs loss to Utah, bringing his season total to 14 stops (six sacks) behind the line of scrimmage.
SERIES HISTORY: California holds a 5-4 edge in the series that dates to the 1968 season. The teams have swapped victories since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the last a 28-16 Buffs’ win last year in Boulder.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “At this point you kind of have to look at it from the business standpoint. These kinds of things happen pretty often but you have no choice but to move on from this.” — Colorado linebacker Drew Lewis on the firing of Mike MacIntyre.
