The Nick Montana Saga: Is the End at Hand?

When Tulane quarterback Nick Montana signed with the Washington Huskies out of high school as a four-star recruit back in 2010, he displayed lots of potential, but wasn’t ready for the big time. A redshirt year ensued, and he got his chance to win a starting job in 2011, but lost out to Keith Price. Montana saw some game time during that season, but still showed no signs of beating out Price, who had been stellar.

A change of scenery was on the cards.

Montana opted to transfer to Mount San-Antonio, a junior college, and it turned out to be a good move. At the lower level, he tore up the JUCO ranks, passing for 4,652 yards and 36 touchdowns on just 321 attempts. More importantly, he had the opportunity to bulk up, and came back to the FBS ranks as a stronger, more assured quarterback. Surprisingly, he didn’t get any BCS offers, with just Tulane, Akron and Western Kentucky offering scholarships, so the state of Louisiana it was.

It didn’t take long for Montana to make a splash with the Green Wave, winning the starting job in camp. Fans had high hopes for the season, and when Tulane rolled to a 4-2 start, they seemed justified. Montana was injured in that sixth game, but backup Devin Powell kept the ship afloat with another two wins. Montana returned from injury with Tulane in the running for a C-USA title game spot.

Then things started to wrong. Apart from a blowout of UTEP, Montana looked out of sorts, and the team stumbled to 1-4 finish.

So, what happened? Was Montana’s injury the cause of the gunslinger’s demise? Well, yes and no. The truth is, apart from the occasional game, he wasn’t that good. Prior to his injury, Montana completed 102-of-183 passes (55.7 percent) for 1,116 yards, with 10 TDs and four interceptions—hardly all-conference play. When he came back, he completed just 56 of his 113 attempts (49.6 percent) for 601 yards, with four TDs (three against UTEP) and six interceptions.

The truth is, Montana wasn’t the answer at quarterback for Tulane; he just did enough to complement a stellar defense that almost won games on its own. The offense as a whole just wasn’t very good, and Montana was not the guy to raise the level of play.

This season, after a tough training camp battle, a redshirt freshman by the name of Tanner Lee has been handed the reins ahead of Montana and Powell, and he looked like he had to job in hand from spring camp, despite the late announcement.

What does this mean for Montana? Is this his last hurrah? College football is a tough business, and injury or poor form could see Montana thrust back into the spotlight at any point in time.

Can he revitalize his career at this late a stage? To that, the answer appears to be a resounding “no.”