Huskies’ Montana patient as he bides his time behind Price at QB for Washington

Published 9:28 pm Thursday, October 27, 2011

SEATTLE — The wait was almost as painful as the moment it was over.

Almost.

When Nick Montana, the University of Washington red-shirt freshman quarterback with the famous last name, finally got into a game after a year-and-a-half of waiting, he was rudely welcomed to the world of college football with a blindside sack.

In a way, it was the best feeling in the world.

“Just being out there is a lot of fun,” Montana said this week.

In his first two appearances as a college football player, Montana has hardly set the world on fire or drawn any obvious comparisons to his father, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The son has taken 26 snaps, thrown just four passes, and his statistics this season include 21 passing yards, a fumble and an interception.

But how Nick Montana has looked on the field is not as important — at this point — as the fact that he actually has been on the field.

“It’s been real fun,” said Montana, who has completed three of his four passes while handing off 21 times in mop-up duty the past two weeks. “Obviously, the two turnovers are not the way I wanted to go, but it was my first two times being out there. So, I’m just learning from (the mistakes) and getting better with the experience. It’s been good getting into the games, and I’m just trying to capitalize on it.”

If nothing else, Montana certainly has a good story about his early college experience. His first snap late in the third quarter of a blowout win over Colorado 13 days ago saw him get blindsided by Buffaloes defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe on Montana’s first collegiate snap. Montana fumbled the ball away, and Colorado scored a touchdown on its ensuing drive.

Almost two weeks later, Montana could laugh about the incident.

“I talked to my dad first, and he was laughing about it because his first play was a pick-six,” Montana said, using the common football vernacular for a touchdown scored on an interception return. “So we were kind of laughing together. It’s whatever.”

On Montana’s last pass attempt, during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss at Stanford, he threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Stanford safety Barry Browning.

“They’re all learning experiences,” UW offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. “Any time you go into a game, it doesn’t matter the situation. Nick’s a competitive guy; he wants to play well. It’s a good experience for him.”

Getting to play has been especially rewarding for Montana, who has had to show remarkable patience while starter Keith Price has shined in the starting role. Price has beaten out Montana twice already — first, for the role of Jake Locker’s backup last fall, then again for the vacated starting role in the spring. He has since fallen out of any competition because of the way Price has started the 2011 season.

“Everyone wants to play,” Montana said. “They come here to do — to any college. I’m just as eager as anyone else to play. I love the game.”

Montana added that he hasn’t gotten frustrated, despite the circumstance. Since Price is only a third-year sophomore, there’s a pretty good chance that Montana could spend the next three years as a backup before getting a shot at the starting job during his senior year in 2014.

Montana just shrugs off the notion.

“He’s an amazing quarterback, and he shows it every week,” he said. “There’s not really much more you can say. Everyone sees it: he’s doing great. He’s doing a great job, so I just have to be patient.”

Until Montana gets an opportunity in some real game action, he’ll have to settle for snaps however he can get them. So playing in back-to-back games is satisfying in its own way, and the experience is getting him ready for when his number gets called for real.

“I wouldn’t say I’m more ready,” he said of having some game experience under his belt. “It’s just getting a better feel for the game when you’re actually playing. I’m still preparing the same way, still doing the same things.”

Nobody knows when Montana will get another chance, and when he’ll get forced into action with a game on the line, but the Huskies are glad he now has some experience to fall back upon.

“I think the valuable snaps that he’s gotten, not all of which have been good — the sack-fumble, the interception — you learn from those experiences, and that makes you better,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Notable

Will Shamburger and Sean Parker have taken almost all the first-team snaps at safety this week, and it looks like that combination could start Saturday against Arizona. Sarkisian said junior free safety Justin Glenn, who hurt his foot in the Stanford game six days ago, will be available but limited this weekend. … Former UW defensive tackle Ron Holmes passed away Thursday at the age of 48. Holmes, a consensus All-American and first-round pick in the 1985 NFL draft, died of unknown causes.