Ripple effect
Colorado’s football turnaround can be traced to a decision that happened in May,
The rise of the Colorado football program this year almost seemed to come out of nowhere.
After nearly a decade of futility, it happened so suddenly that a slogan soon spread to reassure any doubters.
“The rise is real,” says a T-shirt sold at the University of Colorado Book Store.
Even airplane passengers who arrived in Denver this fall were informed about it after boarding the airport’s subway train:
“The rise is real,” says the audio greeting — a public service announcement recorded by Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre.
In the five previous football seasons, Colorado had a combined record of 5-40 in the Pac-12 Conference. This year, Colorado (10-3) finished 8-2 in the Pac-12 and will play in its first bowl game since 2007 on Dec. 29 when it faces Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl.
But it all could have turned out much differently, if not for a single player’s decision in May to not join the rise. FATEFUL DECISION Davis Webb was an off-and-on starter at quarterback for Texas Tech from 2013 to 2015 but was looking to join a new team for his final college season in 2016. After being recruited by Colorado coaches, Webb announced in January that he would play for the Buffaloes before changing his mind in May to instead join the University of California.
His decision to not attend Colorado changed the Buffs’ future by changing the outlook of the team’s quarterback position, not just for this year but for future years, too.
Consider what could have happened if Webb had gone to Colorado:
Sefo Liufau, Colorado’s senior starting quarterback, might have sat out this season as a redshirt instead of leading the Buffaloes to the brink of the Pac-12 championship.
Steven Montez, Colorado’s freshman backup quarterback, might have been stuck farther down the bench instead of developing into the team’s quarterback of the future. He started three games when Liufau was injured this year and won two.
“Probably for our program, it’s probably the best thing that Davis Webb did not come,” MacIntyre told USA TODAY Sports.
MacIntyre cites two reasons for this: because of what Liufau did this season and because Montez was able to get lots of experience that he wouldn’t have gotten with Webb and Liufau above him in the pecking order.
Webb also told USA TODAY Sports his decision worked out for everybody, including himself. At Cal, Webb started every game for the Bears, who finished 5-7. He served as a team captain and led the Pac-12 in total offense with 348.8 yards per game. Along with Liufau and others, he has been invited to the Senior Bowl next month to work out in front of pro scouts.
Webb said he wishes Cal won more games this season but otherwise, “It was exactly what I wanted it to be.”
“I’m really excited to be a Golden Bear,” Webb said. “At the same time, I was very happy to see Colorado be very successful. … I loved Colorado, my visit. I loved the coaches. I loved the teammates. I thought they could be a great football team, and they were.” BALANCING ACT No one will ever know if the Buffaloes would have improved as much this year with Webb as they did with Liufau. Webb finished fourth in the Pac-12 in pass efficiency (135.6), just ahead of Liufau, who finished fifth (134.0).
What is certain is that Lifuau represents the guts of this team, this year, this rise. He’s a threeyear captain who led Colorado through some of its darkest hours. Asked what Liufau meant to Colorado’s rise, MacIntyre summed it up in two words.
“Everything,” he said. “Everything.”
His teammates “saw what he did, how he worked, his toughness, his ability to do things,” MacIntyre said. “I knew once our team caught up with Sefo, our team would win this many games.”
Earlier this year, MacIntyre didn’t know if Liufau would be available to play this season because of a Lisfranc foot injury he suffered in the 11th game of 2015. That’s why CU coaches pursued Webb. They wanted an insurance policy at quarterback in case Liufau wasn’t healthy enough after missing the final two games of 2015 and all of spring practice.
“They were needing a quarterback,” Webb said. “That’s what the coaches told me.”
If Liufau wasn’t ready, Liufau could have redshirted this year and saved his final season at CU for 2017.
As Colorado prepared to pursue Webb, MacIntyre said he sat down with Liufau and explained the situation.
“I said, ‘If you don’t want me to bring him in, I won’t even talk to him, OK?’ ” MacIntyre said. “And he looked at me dead in the eye, and he said, ‘We’ve got a really good football team next year, and I’ve got a broke Lisfranc. And I believe I’ll be back. If I’m not, if I was you and I was in your shoes, I’d try to go get him, because I’m not well. But if I’m well, I’ll just beat him out.’ ”
As it turned out, Liufau worked hard to rehabilitate and was ready to play in the summer. If Webb had stuck with Colorado, Liufau said he would have competed with him in the preseason to become the starter. And if Webb would have beaten him for the job, Liufau likely would not have played this year.
“I guess I would redshirt,” Liufau told USA TODAY Sports. “Just because it gives you another opportunity to look at things and another opportunity to play again.”
Webb changed his mind about Colorado after Cal hired an offensive coordinator, Jake Spavital, who ran an offense similar to the one he played in at Texas Tech.
“Obviously it worked out for him over at Cal, and it worked out for us, having a really good year with Sefo and Montez and being able to develop a young quarterback in Steven,” said Colorado cooffensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, who was on staff at Texas Tech when Webb was there and helped pursue him for the Buffs. “If Davis comes, we don’t get a chance to really develop Steven the way we had this year. I think it was good for all parties involved, and there’s no hard feelings.” IDEAL ENDING It’s hard to imagine the Buffs rallying this year without Liufau. The only times they lost were when Liufau was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury (vs. Michigan and Washington) or didn’t start because of it (at Southern California). Liufau’s ability to throw and make gutsy runs helped the Buffs finally rise over the hump, two years after they finished 2-10, including 0-9 in the Pac-12. Last year, the Buffs finished 4-9 overall and 1-8 in the Pac-12. This year, they were a win away from a berth in the Rose Bowl.
Liufau, who is from Tacoma, Wash., finishes his college career as the 2016 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year and the owner of 98 school records, including total yards in a career (10,509).
He has more career starts (39) than any other quarterback in Colorado history and is the first Colorado player in more than 120 years to serve as team captain for three seasons.
“It means everything, just to be able to have success with these guys,” Liufau said. “I’ve been here four years now, haven’t quit, haven’t given up, haven’t transferred. For it to all finally come together in the final year, it’s just a blessing and just makes us all happy that our hard work is finally paying off.”
That’s what his coach says he wanted when he tried to bring in another quarterback last winter. MacIntyre wanted to save Liufau’s senior season for 2017, if necessary. The rise became real this year instead.
“I didn’t want him to limp through his senior year and not go out like he should when he’s been our guy that has led our team, a three-time captain, our warrior,” MacIntyre said. “He’s taken the brunt of everything. I wanted him to go out like he’s going out. That was my dream, and the dream came true.”