{"id":1314597,"date":"2019-09-13T18:04:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T00:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/montez-leads-way-as-colorado-renews-rivalry-with-air-force\/"},"modified":"2019-09-13T18:04:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T00:04:01","slug":"montez-leads-way-as-colorado-renews-rivalry-with-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/montez-leads-way-as-colorado-renews-rivalry-with-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Montez leads way as Colorado renews rivalry with Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Colorado quarterback Steven Montez warms up before an NCAA college football game against Nebraska Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BOULDER, Colo. \u2014 Envision this for a moment: Colorado senior quarterback Steven Montez leading the Air Force triple-option offense.<\/p>\n

The opportunity was on the table out of high school for the dual-threat QB. Colorado recruited Montez for his throwing\/running and Air Force for his running\/throwing.<\/p>\n

In the end, Montez followed his arm to Colorado and now he\u2019ll guide the Buffaloes (2-0) against the Falcons (1-0) on Saturday at Folsom Field. It\u2019s the first meeting between the two schools since 1974.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably would be a lot lighter, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d cracked the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Montez when discussing running the option offense. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be as heavy as I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun fully believes Montez\u2019s skill set would\u2019ve translated at the Academy \u2014 like it has at Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was mobile. He was big. He was strong,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cHe was an outstanding high school football player and he is a tremendous college football player, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montez currently sits fourth all-time at Colorado in yards passing, pass attempts, and in completions. He\u2019s also third in touchdown passes and second in total offense. He\u2019s 60th in yards rushing.<\/p>\n

Under a different scenario, maybe the player from El Paso, Texas, would\u2019ve made a run through the Air Force record books \u2014 in the rushing ranks. His senior year of high school he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable why the Falcons were so high on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAir Force \u2014 got the offer and was excited about it. I didn\u2019t really want to go the military route,\u201d Montez said. \u201cI\u2019m blessed Colorado found me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Falcons enter the game well rested and well prepared. After beating Colgate 48-7 on Aug. 31, they used the bye week to dissect Colorado.<\/p>\n

Colorado is off to a 2-0 start for the fourth straight season. The Buffs have a load of confidence after a 34-31 overtime win over Nebraska in which they rallied from a 17-0 deficit.<\/p>\n

Although, this could be shaping up to be a trap game for the Buffaloes, who enter as 4 1\/2-point favorites. Just don\u2019t mention that to first-year Colorado coach Mel Tucker.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be totally clueless to get caught off guard by a team like Air Force,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cEverybody in America and the world who knows anything about football knows that when you play Air Force, you better strap it up. They know what the heck they\u2019re doing. They\u2019ve got talented guys that are tough, that are physical, that are disciplined. \u2026 So, if we don\u2019t realize that, then shame on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things to know as Colorado goes for its sixth straight win over Air Force. The Falcons haven\u2019t beaten the Buffs since Nov. 23, 1968:<\/p>\n

ON BROADWAY<\/p>\n

The Buffaloes had the scout team try to mirror the moves of Air Force quarterback Donald Hammond III, tailback Kadin Remsberg and the fullbacks who run the dive up the middle. Tucker compared stopping the option to a Broadway musical \u2014 everyone must play their role.<\/p>\n

\u201cA guy may have one role, might not have any lines, but just come walk across the stage with a broom, sweep the floor and walk off the other side,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cBut if he doesn\u2019t do that, then you don\u2019t have a show. And so everyone\u2019s got to pitch in and do their job and play a role for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEEING BLUE?<\/p>\n

There was a sea of red in the Folsom Field stands last weekend to support the Cornhuskers. Calhoun wouldn\u2019t mind seeing that volume of blue in the bleachers. But he\u2019s realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a tiny school,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cThere are 4,000 students with very few graduates that live in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAVISHING LAVISKA<\/p>\n

Calhoun compared Colorado receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. to longtime NFL standout Andre Johnson. Calhoun worked with Johnson when he was the offensive coordinator\/QB coach with the Houston Texans in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncredibly fast, highly powerful and explosive,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cThe resemblances are striking.\u201d<\/p>\n

CU & SERVICE ACADEMIES<\/p>\n

The last time Colorado played a service academy was Oct. 1, 1977, when the Buffs beat Army 31-0 at West Point, New York.<\/p>\n

AIR FORCE & PAC-12 FOES<\/p>\n

The last time Air Force faced a Pac-12 school was 2015 against California in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Bears won 55-36. The Falcons are 26-33-2 all-time versus Pac-12 schools.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez warms up before an NCAA college football game against Nebraska Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)AP | AP BOULDER, Colo. \u2014 Envision this for a moment: Colorado senior quarterback Steven Montez leading the Air Force triple-option offense. The opportunity was on the table out of high school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 10:30:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}