Previewing the 2018 Colorado Buffaloes

Wait. These guys still play football?

As I sat down to begin previewing Colorado, I couldn’t help but go back and revisit my last preview of the Buffs. While the names have all changed, it seems one thing has remained constant over the past 13 years: Colorado football has been mostly awful. They were bad under Dan Hawkins, they were awful with Jon Embree, and they’ve been bad under current coach Mike MacIntyre.

Except for one season: 2016. For one beautiful season in the Flatirons, everything came together. The Buffs won ten games and the Pac-12 South, and ended the season ranked in the top twenty for the first time in fifteen years. But alas, midnight struck and Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin. The Buffaloes reverted back to form last season, going 5-7 for their 11th losing season out of the last 12 in Boulder.

With only three returning starters on offense, it looks like yet another rebuilding season for the Buffies. One of those returning starters is sophomore quarterback Steven Montez (6’5” 225 lbs.), an honorable mention all-Pac-12 honoree as a sophomore. He completed over 60% of his passes for 2,975 yards, 18 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. He went six weeks between interceptions at midseason for a school record interception-free streak of 172 pass attempts. He’s also a dual threat, rushing for 338 yards and three touchdowns last season. Sophomore Sam Noyer (6’4” 215 lbs.) appeared in four games, completing 48% of his passes for 119 yards as a backup. Arriving this fall is freshman Blake Stenstrom (6’3” 205 lbs.), who split snaps at Denver’s Valor Christian last season with some guy named Luke McCaffrey.