Highly touted freshman quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis makes Colorado debut against Delaware

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This article was published 06/09/2025 (204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Julian Lewis took a snap in the second quarter and handed the ball off to his tailback.

With that, the “JuJu” Era at Colorado was officially under way.

The highly touted freshman quarterback made his debut when he entered Saturday against Delaware on Colorado’s third series of the game. It was simply a chance to get him some action in a game where Colorado rotated between three quarterbacks. He did take the final kneel-down to close out a 31-7 win.

Lewis finished 2 of 4 for 8 yards. He was sacked once.

“He’s young,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said of Lewis’ performance. “You can’t throw everything at him. You don’t want to do that. You don’t want him to feel like he failed. So you’ve got to proceed with caution.”

Lewis, who turns 18 later this month, lost a close QB race to Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter in fall camp. A five-star recruit, Lewis didn’t play in the season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.

Sanders revealed earlier this week that Lewis would play Saturday but not when or how much. Salter had a 9-yard TD run and set up a field goal on two straight drives to make it 10-0.

Lewis sauntered onto the field with 11:50 remaining before halftime to an ovation from the crowd. He motioned for the fans to quiet down before going to work. He was 2 of 3 for 8 yards and sacked once on his first drive in college.

He took control on the next drive, too, but the offense went three-and-out.

“I love the kid, and I want the kid to be successful,” Sanders said. “So we’re very protective on what we do with him and what we can do with him, and really how we call things with him. We want him to be in the situation to excel.”

The story of the afternoon was third-string quarterback Ryan Staub, who finished 7 of 10 for 157 yards and two scores. Staub has served as Shedeur Sanders’ backup the past two seasons. He made the most of his opportunity by throwing a 21-yard strike to DeKalon Taylor with 9 seconds left before halftime and hitting Sincere Brown for a 71-yard TD right after halftime. Staub led the Buffaloes into the end zone on three of his four drives.

“It’s crazy to be rewarded this way,” Staub said. “It’s been a long couple of years of just working and waiting and working.”

Lewis joined the Buffaloes late last year after the conclusion of his high school season. It was a way to get a head start on learning the Colorado offense.

He went 39-4 as a three-year starter for Carrollton High School in Georgia, throwing for 11,010 yards and 144 TD passes.

Lewis earned Gatorade Georgia football player of the year honors in 2023 and ’24. The other Georgia high school football player to win the award in back-to-back seasons was Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

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