ASU Football: Stopping Colorado means stopping Steven Montez, offense

If ASU football hopes to leave Boulder with a victory over No. 21 Colorado, the Sun Devils must stop Steven Montez and the Buffaloes offense.

Steven Montez has been overlooked for his entire college tenor.

Ranked as the No. 122 recruit in Texas out of Del Valle High School, Montez was a three-star quarterback with only one scholarship offer from a major five conference school.

The school that gave Montez that chance was Colorado.

After redshirting his freshman season with the Buffaloes, Montez started in three games and shared time behind center with senior quarterback Sefo Liufau.

During that season, Colorado went 10-4 and made the Pac-12 Championship Game before getting beaten by Washington who qualified for the College Football Playoff.

The thrill of being in the Pac-12 Championship Game was followed by Montez winning the starting job for the Buffs in 2017.

During that season, Montez went on to complete 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,975 yards. But Colorado failed to make a bowl game and the team finished the season with three straight losses.

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Controversy from a season ago has translated into results. In 2018 as a redshirt junior, Montez has guided the No. 21 ranked Buffaloes to a 4-0 record while completing 75.8 percent of his throws for 1092 yards.

Granted, Montez has not faced the stiffest of competition with Colorado State, Nebraska, New Hampshire and UCLA as the victims to the Buffs triumphs this season.

Regardless of the competition, Montez still owns a 173.7 passer rating this season and has thrown half the amount of touchdown passes he had all of last season in four games.

“(Montez) is a big man that can run,” Edwards said. “(He has) a real strong arm that’s going to be a problem for us.”

At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, Montez is not your ordinary quarterback.

Montez’s size and strength, especially when on the run, is an issue for defenses. Combine those attributes with his improved accuracy and decision making in the pocket (only two interceptions so far this season), the second year starter can then create havoc for defenses.

“He reminds me a lot of Josh Allen from Wyoming who we played a couple times at San Diego State,” Danny Gonzales said.

The weapons around Montez have made the veteran quarterback even more dangerous.

Laviska Shenault Jr. has 581 receiving yards and four touchdowns already. Joining Shenault Jr. on the outside for the Buffs is K.D. Nixon and Tony Brown who both have over 175 receiving yards on the season.

Helping balance out the Colorado attack is Travon McMillan who is averaging 7.3 yards per carry and making Montez’s job much easier through the air.

“(McMillan) is a physical back,” Gonzales said. “He can out his foot in the ground and make one cut and gets vertical.”

Each piece of the Buffaloes offense has added up to an offense that is averaging 40.2 points per game.

Before the season started ASU were the favorites even on the road in Boulder. But the circumstances have changed as Colorado sit in the top 25 of the AP poll with one of the hottest quarterbacks in the nation.

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“(Colorado is) a well coached football team,” Edwards said. “(They’re) playing with a lot of confidence, playing at home.”

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.

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