Colorado Football: 5 reasons why Buffaloes will struggle in 2017

5. Sefo Liufau is gone from Boulder

Temporarily losing Sefo Liufau to injury was a difficult enough task for Colorado to work through last season. Now they are faced with their first year post-Liufau, now that the quarterback has exhausted his eligibility. While Steven Montez gained valuable experience backing up Liufau last year, he will have a tough time replacing the production on a consistent basis.

Liufau was a mainstay all four years he was at Colorado. The quarterback left Boulder with dozens of single-game, season, and career team records set throughout his career. He accounted for 74 career touchdowns and over 10,000 total yards from scrimmage in four years. Though injuries limited him at times, Liufau was the catalyst for last year’s turnaround on offense.

The team should be okay with Montez replacing Liufau, but there are still plenty of question marks. Montez dazzled in his first career start, throwing for 333 yards and rushing for another 135 while scoring four touchdowns at Autzen Stadium. But in two succeeding starts, he could not replicate the feat. He went 25-of-40 against Southern California, but threw for fewer than 200 yards and had only 25 rushing yards before heading back to the bench once Liufau was healthy.

Will Colorado bomb completely back into the cellar of the Pac-12? The Arizona teams are going to do their best to prevent that from happening. But the Buffaloes offense is going to take a step back after a miracle campaign last year.