Colorado Buffaloes Head Coach Deion Sanders wasnât happy about his teamâs third straight loss, this one a 29-22 road defeat at the hands of Big 12 foe West Virginiaâ¦but he couldnât be unhappy with the play of his true freshman quarterback Julian, âJu Juâ Lewis, who more than held his own in his first start of the season.
Lewis displayed poise and a nice touch on his passes, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. Being turnover free has not been the norm in recent weeks for the Buffs. Interceptions and fumbles have plagued the other CU signal callers, Kaidon Salter and Ryan Straub, at critical junctures for much of the season.
Speaking about Lewis after the game, Sanders was pleased, but cautious.
âHe did some wonderful things that you could see that heâs gonna be special,â Sanders told the media. âHe did some things that you could see his youth. But overall, to me, the kid played well. He played the game well enough for us to win the game.â
Assuming Lewis is under center for Coloradoâs final two games, he will not be able to take a redshirt season. Sanders said he put that decision in the hands of Lewis and his family. The freshman QB said he wanted to play. âIt felt amazing, playing football again, realistically, as the starter.â Lewis told the media.
The rest of his offensive teammates however â with the exception of a handful of positive running plays â were not up to the task against an aggressive Mountaineers pass rush that sacked Lewis seven times and harassed him a whole bunch more. The Buffs mustered just 51 yards on the ground. Lewis, who displayed good pocket awareness and threw the ball away when necessary, was hesitant to pull the ball down and run, however. He totaled -39 yards rushing when the sacks were included.
The Carollton, Geogia product just turned 18 years old and would have been a senior in high school this year if he hadnât elected to reclassify and leave high school a year early.
On the flip side, the CU defense â which was trampled on the previous two weeks, giving up 105 points â held up better against West Virginiaâs own dual threat freshman signal caller Scotty Fox, Jr., limiting him to 202 yards passing and picking him off twice. Fox did add 58 yards on the ground.
But much like several early season losses, the Buffs couldnât get the key stops when they needed them. That allowed Rich Rodriguezâs young team to win its fourth game of the season against six defeats.
Coloradoâs seventh loss of the season eliminates them from bowl contention after playing in the Alamo Bowl last year. With just two games remaining (following their second bye week) against Arizona State at home and at Kansas State, the Buffs are looking at the worst record since the 1-11 disaster of 2022, the year before Sanders came to Boulder.
Nevertheless, they may have found their quarterback of the future in the rubble.
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