Buffs Montez Has Confidence In Fourth-Quarter Offense

BOULDER — Colorado quarterback Steven Montez has now engineered two fourth-quarter comeback victories in his 10 starts for the Buffaloes.

The first came at Oregon in 2016 in his first start as a Buff; the second came last week at Oregon State. In both games, he led fourth-quarter touchdown drives to give the Buffs the lead — and in both situations, he then had to watch from the sidelines as the defense provided a final stop to clinch the win.

If such a situation arises again Saturday at Washington State (8:45 p.m., ESPN), the Buffs sophomore isn't averse to having the ball in his hands once again with the game on the line.

"In high school, playing basketball, whenever the game was on the line, I took every last-second shot we had," Montez said. "It correlates in football. Whenever we're in one of those situations and we're down and we need a touchdown to win, the offense wants to put it on our back. Whenever we can get a chance to do that, you want it. We want the ball in our hands."

Of course, a fourth-quarter game-winning drive requires more than just one player taking one shot. It requires the coordinated effort of all 11 players — which is exactly what the Buffs had last week when they marched more than 80 yards twice in the final quarter, both times erasing OSU leads.

"I think it gives everybody confidence that we know we can do it when we need to," Montez said. "Our offensive line was crushing everything up front and giving Phillip (Lindsay) those lanes and he was running like he does, and then our receivers were making plays. Bryce Bobo had those two touchdown catches, which is huge. When you do that, it's something you remember when you get in that situation again."

Against Washington State, Montez will see a defense that — until last week — had been playing well. The Cougars slipped in their 37-3 loss to Cal, but WSU is still third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (21.1 points per game) and second in total defense (288.3 yards per game). They also have 23 sacks this season, tied for second-best in the league, and they lead the league in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 27 of their 98 tries (27.6 percent).

"They're good defensively," Montez said. "They play man, they've got guys who can cover, and they change it up with a little bit of zone. They've got a good front with Hercules Mata'afa, who is a stud. I've seen him on film. But we're hopefully going to try to move those guys up front a little bit, get the run game rolling and hopefully that will open up the passing game."

Mata'afa is tied for the league lead in sacks (6.5) and leads the league in tackles for loss (12). Overall, WSU is tied for the nation's lead in tackles for loss (49).

COUGARS' LEADING RECEIVER SUSPENDED: The Spokane Spokesman-Review reported earlier this week that Washington State's Tavares Martin Jr., the Cougars' leading receiver, has been suspended for Saturday's game. WSU head coach Mike Leach said after Tuesday's practice that Martin had been suspended for a violation of team rules.

This season, Martin has caught 37 passes for a team-leading 502 yards and seven touchdowns.

WSU PREPARED FOR LINDSAY: There's no doubt who the Cougars will be watching closely Saturday when they are on defense. Washington State linebackers coach Ken Wilson earlier this week told the Spokesman-Review that they believe CU's Phillip Lindsay is "one of the best backs in the country."

"He's tough," Wilson said. "He's not as big as the backs we've faced, but he runs harder than any of the backs we've faced. You've got to tackle him and you've got to be in the right gaps or he can break big runs on you. He's always going forward, he doesn't mind contact and he'll just keep doing it over and over."

Lindsay has rushed for 466 yards and five touchdowns on 69 carries in his last two games. For the season, he has 995 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on 178 carries. The 178 carries is second-most in the nation and the most of any running back from a Power Five team.

ESPN CREW: Saturday's crew for the ESPN broadcast will consist of Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Anthony Becht (color) and Rocky Bolman (sidelines).

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu