Quarterback-turned-safety-turned-quarterback Sam Noyer will be Colorado’s starting signal-caller for the season opener against UCLA on Nov. 7, coach Karl Dorrell announced Friday.
Noyer, a graduate senior, won the role over junior Tyler Lytle.
“Sam got the nod, but we are really, really impressed with what Tyler has done this camp and … he’s going to get a chance to play some,” Dorrell said.
Noyer served as a backup quarterback for two years before then-coach Mel Tucker shifted him to safety in 2019. After graduating in the spring, Noyer put his name in the NCAA transfer portal, but after Tucker exited for Michigan State and Dorrell took over, the new coach convinced him to stay and battle for the quarterback job.
Then-senior Steven Montez was Colorado’s starting quarterback last season as the team went 5-7. Montez completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,808 yards with 17 touchdown tosses and 10 interceptions.
Noyer, who is from Beaverton, Ore., played 10 games on defense last season but produced just one tackle. The previous two years, he saw spot duty at quarterback, hitting on 21 of 41 passes for 179 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Noyer said of getting word that he won the starting job, “Obviously I was excited and happy to hear that, definitely high emotions. I celebrated for a couple hours and then went back to work. My mindset has shifted toward UCLA now. We have been going in camp mode, going against our ones, and now we’re getting into scout (team work).
“I didn’t know I was going to be a Buff again. There was a time I didn’t think this was possible. I am just glad I made the decision to come back here and things worked out. Now, I have to go prove it.”
Lytle, from Redondo Beach, Calif., completed 4 of 6 passes for 55 yards and an interception over the past two seasons.
“He has got to be ready,” Noyer said of Lytle. “We are breaking film down together all the time. I wouldn’t say anything was awkward. He took it like a man and he is preparing like he is going to be the guy. I want that.
“I want competition throughout the season. I want to have him push me to get better and to be ready to go come game one, game two, game three and so on.”
