Key Points:
- Colorado started true freshman Julian Lewis in Week 11, marking the team’s third quarterback change this season.
- Lewis impressed in his debut, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns despite a narrow loss.
- The young quarterback plans to stay on campus during the bye week to watch film to improve.
For the third time this college football season, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes trotted out a new starting quarterback for its Week 11 matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Making his first career start was former five-star recruit Julian Lewis. After flip-flopping between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and Ryan Staub throughout the year, Sanders turned to Lewis after Colorado had been outscored 105-24 in its past two games. While West Virginia was able to pull off the 29-22 victory with true freshman quarterback Scotty Fox, Lewis provided a glimmer of hope for the Buffs who fell to 3-7 on the year and are no longer in the race to be bowl eligible.
Lewis finished the game having completed 22-of-35 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns, while having the Buffs in position to win the game until the very end.
Although the loss was tough on Lewis, as Deion Sanders Jr. revealed he was crying in the locker room because he was so upset, the true freshman quarterback showed maturity beyond his years when speaking to the media after the game.
Julian Lewis reveals plans to watch film on bye week
As Colorado heads into its second bye week of the season, they are hoping there won’t be any issues like the previous one before the Oct. 25 game with the Utah Utes. Two of the team’s best wide receivers, Omarion Miller and Joseph Williams, did not make it back on time after being given some time off, resulting in their benching for nearly all of the 53-7 loss to Utah.
When Lewis spoke about his bye week plans, he not only said he would be watching some film to improve his game but also said he hoped to keep his receivers in town to get some work in.
“It’s a blessing having this off week to sit around,” Lewis said. “I’m not going home or anything like that. I’m going to sit in the facility, watch film, try to grow and get better. Try to keep all of the receivers back out there so we can keep building that connection.”
While Lewis may have been disappointed with the outcome, Sanders seemed quite pleased with his true freshman quarterback.
“His first start he did some wonderful things that you can see that he’s going to be special,” Sanders said. “Did some things that you can see his youth, but overall, to me, the kid played well. He played well enough for us to win the game.”
Following the loss, Colorado will have next week off before meetings with the defending Big 12-champion Arizona State Sun Devils and the Kansas State Wildcats.