Montez’s dunk in the spring game irks Mac
BOULDER» The University of Colorado football team completed its spring showcase — one hour of practice drills followed by one hour of situational scrimmaging — at Folsom Field on Saturday. Here are three observations from the afternoon, with three spring practices left for the Buffs:
1. Uneven Steven. You’d be foolish to put much stock in an untimed and unscored scrimmage, but quarterback Steven Montez showed familiar flashes of greatness and goofiness. He threw two touchdown passes, but also two interceptions. He ran for a 44-yard touchdown and followed that with a football dunk over the goalposts’ crossbar — a celebration that didn’t sit well with coach Mike Macintyre.
“We pulled him out after that,” Macintyre said. “He came up and apologized to me. I told him, ‘Well, two years ago you were so fat you couldn’t have done that, so now you’re in better shape.’ But he’ll have a little bit of ex- tra (work) in Monday’s practice. … I want him to have his passion, but I don’t want him to go up and dunk it. But he has that fire, that vinegar in him, which is really good.”
2. Who’s the backup QB? Montez will enter August camp the unquestioned starter, but the battle for the No. 2 quarterback job continues. Redshirt freshman Tyler Lytle led three CU drives Saturday and finished 9-of-13 passing for 82 yards. Sam Noyer, a redshirt sophomore, led 2½ drives and completed 1-of-4 passes for 4 yards.
“I think they’ve definitely progressed,” co-offensive coordinator Darin Chiaverini said. “Coach (Kurt) Roper does a really good job with those quarterbacks.”
3. Shifty Shenault. The biggest “wow” moment came when Montez connected with sophomore wide receiver Laviska Shenault on a crossing route.
After Shenault snagged the football at the 12-yard line, he stutter-stepped past two defensive players and ran in for the touchdown — his second of the day.