Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Steve Montez named to Maxwell Award watch list

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez was named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award that recognizes the best overall college football player on Monday. The announcement of the 85 players by the Maxwell Football Club included a total of 12 players from the Pac-12 conference.

The group of twelve, including Montez, selected to represent the conference are Arizona’s Khalil Tate, Arizona State’s Manny Wilkins and N’Keal Harry, Cal’s Patrick Laird, Oregon’s Justin Herbert, Stanford’s KJ Costello and Bryce Love, USC’s Stephen Carr, Utah’s Zack Moss, and Washington’s Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin.

Here’s a portion of the official press release from the University of Colorado.

“A native of El Paso, Texas, Montez ranks second among returning Pac-12 players with 276.1 yards of total offense per game. In just 22 career games (15 starts), he already ranks ninth in school history with 3,992 passing yards.

A 2017 honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection by the league’s coaches, he threw for 2,975 yards last season, narrowly missing what would have been just the third 3,000-yard passing season in Colorado history. He set several CU records last fall, including the most consecutive pass attempts without being intercepted (172), consecutive 300-yard passing games (three) and most games with over 400 yards of total offense in a season (three).

No Colorado Buffalo has ever won the Maxwell, one of the few major national awards the Buffaloes do not have in their trophy case. CU players have won a Heisman Trophy (Rashaan Salaam, 1994), two Butkus Awards, a William V. Campbell Trophy (Academic Heisman), Ray Guy Award, John Mackey Award, two Jim Thorpe Awards, Doak Walker Award, Walter Camp Trophy and CU has eight Buffs who have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell, has been given to America’s College Player of the Year since 1937. Maxwell’s contributions to the game of football were extensive, including time as a player, a sportswriter and an official. The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995.

The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 24 awards boast over 750 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Oct. 29, while the three finalists for each award will be unveiled Nov. 19. The winner of the 2018 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 6. The formal presentations of this awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 8, 2019.”