Going into this past season, Colorado head football coach knew that sophomore quarterback wouldn’t look like a polished veteran.
MacIntyre wanted to see the first-year starter be a better player at the end of the year than he was at the start, however. In that regard, it was a successful season for Montez.
“Steven had some excellent moments — some ‘wow’ moments — and he had some other moments that were tough,” MacIntyre said. “That’s what I kept saying at the beginning of the year: can he handle the grind of everything? I thought when it was all said and done that he did. He improved as the year went along.”
Montez got a taste of the starting role in 2016, subbing for injured senior for three games. In all, Montez played in 10 games that year, throwing for 1,017 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
This season, Montez started all 12 games — the first CU quarterback to start every game of the season since Cody Hawkins in 2007 — and completed 228 of 377 passes (60.5 percent) for 2,975 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was also CU’s second-leading rusher, with 338 yards and three touchdowns.
Along the way, Montez got a feel for many of the good and bad parts of being the starting quarterback.
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