Colorado coach Deion Sanders to play freshman QB Lewis against Delaware
- Freshman quarterback Julian ‘Juju’ Lewis will see playing time after not appearing in the season-opening loss.
- Starting quarterback Kaidon Salter completed 17 of 28 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown against Georgia Tech.
- Sanders had always planned to play Lewis this season but did not specify if the freshman would start.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said Tuesday, Sept. 2, that he will introduce a new element to his offense after his team got beat in a season-opening loss against Georgia Tech.
Instead of playing just one quarterback, the Buffaloes seem likely to play two, this time with freshman Julian “Juju” Lewis. Sanders said Lewis would play this Saturday against Delaware (1-0) after he didn’t see the field last week in the 27-20 defeat to the Yellow Jackets.
“He’s playing this week for sure,” Sanders said at his weekly news conference in Boulder. “I know when I’m going to see him. You just don’t know when you’re going to see him.”
Liberty transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter started the season opener and completed 17 of 28 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown. He missed on some key throws and also threw the ball at times when he should have run, as Sanders said after the loss. Salter added 13 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown for Colorado (0-1).
Why is Julian Lewis playing for Colorado this week?
The fact that Lewis is playing this week isn’t an indictment on Salter. Sanders said he had planned to play Lewis at times this season. He said he just didn’t think it was appropriate timing last week.
“Now he’s going to play, so I don’t even care about the flow with nothing,” Sanders said. “He’s playing.”
Sanders declined to say if Lewis might start against Delaware in a 3:30 p.m. ET game Saturday on Fox.
He also didn’t seem overly concerned about Salter being able to learn from his mistakes on Saturday. Sanders said he didn’t need to talk to him about using his legs more often to make gains.
“You don’t think he knows that?” Sanders said. “I’m pretty sure the internet has told him, you know, if I didn’t tell him. I don’t have to babysit. These are some grown men getting handsomely paid. I’m pretty sure they understand what the objective is to win and to exercise their skillset to its best possible usage. He knows what his gifts are. He’s just got to use them.”
Lewis is only 17 years old after graduating high school early in Carrollton, Georgia. He originally committed to play at Southern California before switching to Colorado.
Delaware up next for Colorado
Before the loss to Georgia Tech, Sanders never had lost a season opener as a college head coach. The big question now is how his team responds to it. A loss would be nearly catastrophic against the Blue Hens, a team playing its first season as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). A decisive win could restart the conversation about playing for the Big 12 Conference championship heading into its conference opener Sept. 12 at Houston.
Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata called the season-opening loss a “wake-up call.”
“We know that one game doesn’t define us and that if we want to make the playoff, we’ve got to win out,” Mata said Tuesday. “It’s part of the plan. It’s Plan A. And it hasn’t changed.”
Colorado receiver Omarion Miller has a hamstring injury and might not play. Running back Dallan Hayden also might not play because of injury. But Sanders said both positions have enough depth to be successful.
He also took issue with the first question of the news conference, which was about improving the offense under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Sanders noted his defense gave up 320 rushing yards vs. Georgia Tech.
“It’s funny that you start out with Coach Shurmur, and we gave up over 300 yards. darn near 400 yards rushing,” Sanders said. “It’s ironic to me. It seems like you guys just pick and choose who you want to target. That’s cool. We didn’t lose the game because of Coach Shurmur, (or defensive coordinator Robert) Livingston or one specific thing. I gotta do a better job.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
