Julian “JuJu” Lewis started the season as the quarterback Colorado seemed ready to build around, but five games in, his future with the Buffaloes is suddenly in doubt.
Lewis did not play in Colorado’s 29-7 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday. Isaac Wilson got the start and finished 26 of 44 for 290 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, while freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne also saw limited action. Lewis, meanwhile, stayed on the sideline.
That absence quickly fueled speculation. Matt McCall, a Colorado alumnus who posts on X as “Moneyline Matt,” claimed Lewis’ camp had told Deion Sanders and the Colorado staff that the quarterback was done playing for the Buffaloes. McCall wrote that Lewis intended to sit out the rest of the season before entering the transfer portal.
That claim has not been confirmed by Lewis, his family or Colorado.
Still, Sanders’ comments after the loss made it clear Lewis’ situation was not just a simple depth-chart move.
“ I would love for JuJu to come in here and he tell you what happened,” Sanders said. “So don’t, ‘You benched JuJu, first and third string.’
No, that’s not how it went down. It didn’t happen like that.”
The problem is that Sanders’ invitation runs straight into Colorado’s media-access setup. Reporters can’t just walk into the football facility and ask Lewis what happened. The university and football program control which players are available for interviews, so unless Colorado puts Lewis in front of the media, Sanders is pointing reporters to someone they may not get the chance to question.
That issue stood out even more after Wilson’s postgame press conference on Saturday. Several Colorado beat writers introduced themselves to him before asking questions, a sign that this was the first time some of them had spoken with him in that setting.
Wilson had just made his first start for Colorado in a nationally relevant conference game, yet parts of the beat seemed to be meeting him for the first time. In that light, Sanders’ suggestion that reporters should simply ask Lewis what happened feels far easier said than done.
And if the beat had not really had access to Wilson, there is little reason to think Lewis will suddenly be made available to explain one of the program’s most sensitive personnel decisions.
This also isn’t the first time Sanders has answered a question by directing reporters toward a player or staff member who isn’t regularly accessible. It lets him avoid speaking for someone else, but it can also work as a dodge when the program controls that person’s access.
Colorado has already shown how tightly it manages outside access. Before the season, reporters at open practices were told they could not publish observations about injuries, personnel groupings, player performances or depth-chart changes. The university also warned that violations could bring removal, credential revocation or future access restrictions.
Sanders may genuinely want Lewis to tell his own side. If that’s the case, Colorado needs to make that happen.
Until then, the questions are only going to keep coming.
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Baylor brings its own clean road resume into Boulder, and both programs have players recognized on the MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, adding even more weight to a matchup already loaded with stakes. For Colorado, the challenge is as much about defending its home turf as it is about proving it can handle one of the Big 12s best in a game that should say plenty about where the Buffaloes stand. [Read more 🡒]