Oct 1, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez (12) prepares to pass a touchdown to wide receiver Shay Fields (not pictured) in the first quarter against the Oregon State Beavers at Folsom Field. Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
For the first time in more than a decade, Colorado is in the Associated Press Top 25.
After a 4-1 start including two Pac-12 Conference victories, the Buffaloes are ranked No. 21. It is the first time in the poll since 2005.
“We’ve got to keep playing games,” coach Mike MacIntyre said. “Every team that’s left to play can beat us, and we can beat every team left. We have to come and play Colorado football, that’s what I tell them all the time. Play Colorado football; that means take care of yourself. Then, you go out there and play and see what happens. There’s a lot of great football teams in our league.”
Colorado went 2-25 in the Pac-12 during MacIntyre’s first three seasons, but are 2-0 and leading the South Division after wins over Oregon and Oregon State.
“The wins give us a lot of confidence,” safety Tedric Thompson said. “Being able to get these wins right now is good, but we have to keep on the road. We can’t get too high or too low on ourselves.”
Colorado will visit USC Saturday afternoon.
“I think you can see it in our play and the way we talk to people and the way we feel, we carry ourselves differently,” safety Ryan Moeller said. “I wouldn’t say that any one of us is getting a big head by any means. I think everyone is very level headed and ready to take it to the next step. Today’s over now so let’s go on to next week, we have USC to get ready for.”
Colorado has a quarterback controversy after Steven Montez filled in well during the past two weeks for injured senior Sefo Liufau. The redshirt freshman threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-6 win over Oregon State after throwing for 333 yards and three scores in a win over Oregon.
MacIntyre was asked who would start against the Trojans.
“We’ll see how this week goes,” he said.
Montez said he found out in the middle of last week that Liufau would not be ready to play against the Beavers and he may not find out if he is starting against USC until Saturday.
“I mean you can always play better,” he said. “You can always get better at something and that’s what we are going to go in and do Monday. Correct the mistakes that we made, so it’ll keep going up from here.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Steven Montez has 626 passing yards and six touchdowns in his first two career starts. The redshirt freshman has also run for 163 yards and two scores in those two games while helping CU average 44 points per game. After going 0-for-7 in relief duty against Michigan, Montez is 42-of-59 against Oregon and Oregon State.
–WR Shay Fields had seven catches for 169 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Oregon State. He is the third receiver in school history to have three touchdown catches in a game. His 169 yards rank 14th in CU history. He has 21 catches for 460 yards on the season including four plays of 50 yards or more.”
–LB Rick Gamboa had his first career interception against Oregon State and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. He became the 16th CU player since 1992 to return his first career interception for a touchdown. The sophomore had three tackles and broke up a pass in the game.
–LB Jimmie Gilbert had seven tackles, including two sacks, against Oregon State. The two sacks were a career high for Gilbert, who has a sack in four of five games this season. He fell one tackle short of matching his career high after getting 10 tackles in the first four games of the season. He also forced a fumble in the game.
–K Davis Price, a freshman walk-on who earned the job when starter Diego Gonzalez was injured for the season, went 2-for-2 during his first game as CU’s starting placekicker. He kicked a 54-yard field goal to set the school record for the longest one ever made by a freshman. Price also made all five extra points in the game.
