Oct. 28th – California – Any Given Saturday

On an afternoon when Rashaan Salaam’s No. 19 was retired by the school, the Colorado offense put forth an effort CU’s Heisman trophy winner would have been proud to witness. Steven Montez threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns as the Buffs posted 553 yards of total offense in a 44-28 Colorado victory over California.

A week after being benched in the second half against Washington State, Montez went 20-for-26, also rushing for a seven-yard touchdown. Phillip Lindsay posted “Salaam-worthy” 33 carries for 161 yards, while Shay Fields led the receiving corps with four catches for 101 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown.

“I was really happy with the way Steven [Montez] played,” said Mike MacIntyre. “That’s the way I expect him to play all the time, because he can do all those types of things. The offensive line did a good job and helped him. [Phillip] Lindsay does what Lindsay does. He’s pretty special always.”

It has been a frustrating year for Colorado fans.

At times the Buffs have played well, but at other times – too many other times – the Buffs have looked out-of-sync, unprepared, even indifferent.

Colorado entered the game against California with a 4-4 record … a record which would have been heaven on earth for the Buff Nation a few years ago, but, after a 10-4 campaign in 2016, a real disappointment.

“We still have a lot left to accomplish,” said Phillip Lindsay in the Tuesday press conference leading up to the 44-28 win over the Bears. “For a lot of us, it is the last four or five games left in our college careers, so the sense of urgency is we’ll never play another down in black and gold after these five games. We want to go out with a bang. We want to leave everything out there.”

All well and good, but the Buffs had been promising improvement for weeks, with little to show for it in Pac-12 play.

Cal has five (?) national titles? … CU set 37 school records v. Cal in 2014 … Lindsay No. 7 in rushing

Drew Litton: “Excellence is attainable” … Lindsay: Buffs to play with a “sense of urgency” … Plati-tudes No. 105

“T.I.P.S.” for Cal … Bears 95th in total offense; 100th in total defense … Turnovers the stat to watch …