Top 40 of the Past 40 – No. 14


Posts Tagged ‘Laviska Shenault’

2016: Colorado 41, Oregon 38 … Steven Montez posts the first 300/100 yard game in CU history in first career start … Ahkello Witherspoon saves the day with last minute interception … with video highlights … Player No. 14: Laviska Shenault (career highlight video says it all) …

READ MORE >>

2019: Buffs rally from a 17-0 halftime deficit to defeat the hated Huskers in overtime, 34-31 (with video) … Essay: “Trust the Process” – “I had forgotten how much I hate Nebraska” … Player No. 18: QB Joel Klatt (2002-05) – set 44 school records, including nine career fourth quarter comebacks …

READ MORE >>

No. 6 Utah 45, Colorado 15

//posted 12.2.2019

No. 6 Utah used short fields and a punt return for a touchdown to turn a close game into a rout, taking the Pac-12 South title with a 45-15 win over Colorado. The Buffs became the only Pac-12 opponent in the 2019 season to score two touchdowns against the Utes in Rice-Eccles stadium, but an inability to convert on third downs (2-of-11) kept the Buff offense from creating any consistent movement on offense.

Senior quarterback Steven Montez completed his final game as a Buff completing 17-of-26 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. The passing yardage, along with his 136 yards of total offense (after rushing losses due to sacks were taken into account), allowed Steven Montez to pass Sefo Liufau on the CU all-time lists for both career passing yards and career total offense.

READ MORE >>

Colorado 20, Washington 14

//posted 11.25.2019

On senior night in Folsom, quarterback Steve Montez threw for a touchdown and led a long final drive from the shadow of his own end zone to run out the clock as Colorado beat Washington 20-14.

Alex Fontenot added 105 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries, springing free for a couple of first down runs on the Buffaloes’ last drive, which ran off the final 5:09. It began at the Buffaloes one-yard and ended with Montez taking a knee at the Huskies 18 to run out the final seconds. The victory for Colorado (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) snapped a nine-game losing streak to Washington (6-5, 3-5).

READ MORE >>

Colorado 16, Stanford 13

//posted 11.10.2019

Red-shirt freshman kicker Evan Price, subbing for James Stefanou, connected on three fields, the last being a 37-yarder on the game’s final play, giving Colorado a 16-13 win over Stanford.

The Buffs took a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game, but lost the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello to Simi Fehoko. Down 13-10, the Buffs launched two long fourth quarter drives – 14 plays for 69 yards and 13 plays for 61 yards – to tie the game and then post the game’s final points.

“I just wanted to go out there and pretend it was a practice kick and do what I normally do,” Price said. “Trust the holder, trust the snapper and trust the line, and everything just went right”.

READ MORE >>

UCLA 31, Colorado 14

//posted 11.2.2019

UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 21-of-28 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown, leading the Bruins to an easy 31-14 victory over Colorado. Taking advantage of a Steven Montez interception and a porous Colorado defense, the Bruins raced to a 17-0 first quarter lead … before the Buff offense could muster its first first down of the contest.

Steven Montez completed only 21-of-38 passes for 195 yards against a defense which entered the game 127th in the nation in pass defense (306.8 yards/game). Overall, the Buffs mustered only 14 points against the No. 114 scoring defense, and only 283 yards of total offense against the No. 112 defense in the country.

The Buffs’ leaders on offense each only mustered 77 yards, with Jaren Mangham gaining 77 yards on the ground (on 17 carries), while Tony Brown led the receivers with 77 yards on six receptions, including a 27-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter when the game was already well out of reach.

READ MORE >>

USC 35, Colorado 31

//posted 10.26.2019

Senior quarterback Steven Montez set his 38th school record in starting his 32nd consecutive game, and for 45 minutes against USC, Montez looked like a hero. Montez threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, running for a fourth, but it was not enough to keep Colorado from losing to USC for the 14th-consecutive time, falling 35-31 before 48,913 fans in Boulder.

The Trojans rallied from a ten-point fourth quarter deficit for the victory. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis hit wide receiver Michael Pittman for two touchdowns in the final 11 minutes – with the scores covering 44 and 37 yards – to take down the Buffs.

The Buffs had 520 yards of total offense to 518 for the Trojans, but couldn’t sustain drives in the fourth quarter. Laviska Shenault had nine receptions for 172 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown reception, but the effort was wasted as the CU defense failed to hold an opponent under 30 points for the 12th consecutive game.

READ MORE >>

Washington State quarterback Alex Gordon threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a …. rout of Colorado. The Cougars raced out to a 21-3 first quarter lead, never looking back, handing the Buffs their third straight defeat.

Steven Montez, for the second game in a row, was ineffective. Montez went 16-for-30 for 129 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Running back Alex Fontenot was a bright spot, going for 105 yards on 11 carries, but a porous defense and an ineffective red zone offense doomed the Buffs to a second straight rout on the road.

“We had a few turnovers and we couldn’t finish drives,” said Mel Tucker, who fell below .500 (3-4) for the first time as CU’s head coach. “We knew we would be able to run the ball but our passing game was inconsistent. Defensively, it just took us too long to settle down.”

“It is a little frustrating but you cannot let it get to you”, said running back Alex Fontenot, who had his second career 100-yard rushing game. “You have to keep the mentality of, when I am out there I am going to score, and just keep going.”

READ MORE >>

No. 13 Oregon 45, Colorado 3

//posted 10.12.2019

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert completed 18-of-32 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns, while his Colorado counterpart, Steven Montez went 19-for-34 for 131 yards … and a career-high four interceptions, as No. 13 Oregon routed Colorado, 45-3.

The Buff offense was held to just under 300 total yards, while the Buff defense surrendered over 500 of total offense as the Ducks were successful both on the ground and through the air.

Alex Fontenot had 70 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Laviska Shenault returned to action for the first time in two games to post 70 yards receiving on only four catches. But it was much too little, much too late, as the Buff offense was its own worst enemy, with two major penalties committed after the Buffs pushed the ball inside the Oregon ten yard line … two of CU’s 14 penalties for 114 yards on the night.

“We feel like we can beat every team on our schedule but any team on our schedule, we can lose to, as well,” Mel Tucker said, “My experience in these type of situations is that it’s a very tough road to go down but we have to go down this road. There is no shortcut to success and where we want to get to. It really tests your character and your mettle, individually and as a team.”

READ MORE >>

Colorado snapped a 29-game road losing streak against ranked teams, taking down No. 24 Arizona State in Tempe, 34-31.

Steven Montez went 23-for-30 for 337 yards and three touchdowns, with all three scoring passes going to Tony Brown. The senior wide receiver collected nine passes in all, going for a career-high for 150 yards, with Alex Fontenot gaining 89 yards on 25 carries to lead the rushing attack.

The Buffs posted 447 yards of total offense, surrendering 453 to the Sun Devils. The CU defense remained consistent, giving up 31 points for the third time in four games (giving up, oddly enough, 30 points in the lone loss of the season).

The victory not only gave CU its first win over a ranked team since defeating UCLA 31-20 in the Rose Bowl in 2002, it also gave the Buffs their first win in six attempts against the Sun Devils in Tempe, and a 2-0 record against ranked teams in the fourth game of the Mel Tucker era.

READ MORE >>

Air Force running back Kadin Remsberg went 25 yards for a score on the first play of overtime to give the Falcons the lead, and Colorado was unable to answer, giving the Falcons a 30-23 overtime victory in a series which had laid dormant for 45 years.

Montez went 26-for-43 for 220 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, while Lavisksa Shenault (eight receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown) had his first 100-yard game of the season, but Montez was unable to hit Shenault on a fourth-and-12 at the AFA 16-yard line on the game’s final play. Jaren Mangham (ten carries for 56 yards) and Alex Fontenot (13 carries for 42 yards) for a Buff offense which was held to 325 yards by an Air Force defense which struggled in the 2018 season, but kept the Buffs from scoring for three full quarters of the game.

READ MORE >>

Colorado 52, CSU 31

//posted 9.2.2019

Colorado was out-gained by Colorado State (505 yards to 475), and had fewer first downs (27-23), but four CSU turnovers (including two interceptions by Buff safety Mikial Onu) doomed the Rams’ chances at an upset, with the Buffs posting a 52-31 victory in Denver.

In the final Rocky Mountain Showdown game to be played in Denver, sophomore running back Alex Fontenot led the Buffs with three touchdowns and 125 yards rushing on 19 carries. Steven Montez had a mediocre start to the 2019 campaign, completing 13-of-20 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, with star wide receiver Laviska Shenault being held to three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown (also contributing 35 yards on three rushes).

The game was a see-saw affair until the Buffs created a two-touchdown lead on the last play of the third quarter on an Alex Fontenot 14-yard run. A 22-yard rushing touchdown by Fontenot and a nine-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson were enough to send new head coach Mel Tucker back to Boulder with a 1-0 record.

“I’m proud of the group, I really am,” said CU head coach Mel Tucker, who became just the third Colorado coach since 1932 to win their opener. “It’s very rewarding to take a group like this, that’s all bought in, players and coaches, and see them go out and perform and have a really good team win.”

READ MORE >>