BOULDER — Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre made one thing abundantly clear this week.
Nothing is guaranteed at the quarterback spot for the Buffs.
Senior quarterback Sefo Liufau, who is still nursing a sprained right ankle, is a game-time decision for Saturday’s Pac-12 home opener against Oregon State. After reading the tea leaves all week, I believe it will be redshirt freshman Steven Montez making his second start.
But when Liufau is 100 percent healthy, will the starting role be waiting for him? Or can Montez, who was brilliant in CU’s 41-38 win at Oregon last week, play himself into the job?
“It’s all going to depend how hot our team is at the time,” MacIntyre said this week. “Everybody understands that in sports. We need both of them, because somebody’s going to get dinged up. It’s the way the game goes. We need both of those guys ready to play and ready to go.”
Rarely do college football seasons come without complications, even special seasons. It’s still too early to tell whether the Buffs are truly in the middle of a breakthrough year, but it’s obvious the team is good enough to give itself a chance to find out. MacIntyre isn’t going to let potential hurt feelings stand in the way of that.
Liufau has been through a lot as CU’s fourth-year starter. He’s been a steady leader in the muck of Colorado’s past three losing seasons, when they mustered only two Pac-12 victories. He worked tirelessly to recover from an injured foot in the off-season so he could have a chance to leave a winning legacy after all the losing. And he was playing some of the best football of his career during CU’s first three games this season.
Liufau deserves plenty of credit for what he’s done. He also deserves to be the Buffs’ starting quarterback but only if MacIntyre and his staff view the senior as the best option whenever he is fully healthy.
MacIntyre is playing this the right way. If Montez puts together another inspiring performance Saturday and CU’s offense is humming heading into a huge matchup at USC on Oct. 8, it might hurt the team more than it helps it to make another switch.
At this point, I don’t know who the better option is at quarterback for CU. And my gut tells me CU isn’t fully convinced it knows the best option yet either. Why make a difficult choice before you have to?
Service academy special. There is some history on the line when Air Force hosts Navy on Saturday afternoon.
With both at 3-0, it’s the first time the two service academies have been unbeaten heading into their meeting. This one should have big implications in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy competition, which Navy has won 10 times since 2002. These games are always special, but there is a little something extra given each program’s hot start. Air Force’s Troy Calhoun and Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo are also two of the best coaches in the country, even if they don’t often find themselves on such lists.
So expect a big-time atmosphere at Falcon Stadium on Saturday. Just don’t expect many passes.
