Julian Lewis only needed a few snaps to turn Colorado’s afternoon into something entirely different.
By Monday, the 18-year-old quarterback had the hardware to match the performance. Lewis was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Week after carving up Weber State for 366 passing yards and four touchdowns in the Buffaloes’ 52-21 win at Folsom Field.
He was sharp from the start, finishing 17 of 23 with no interceptions and adding a 3-yard touchdown run for five total scores. Lewis piled up 212 passing yards in the first quarter alone, setting a school record by edging Joel Klatt’s 211 against Texas A&M in 2005. His 265.0 pass efficiency rating established another CU mark for a game with at least 20 attempts, and his four touchdown passes are the most ever by a Colorado freshman.
The numbers kept stacking up from there. Lewis either set or tied at least 10 school records in the game.
That explosion came one week after a much quieter opening act at Georgia Tech, where Lewis threw for 124 yards, completed 14 of 27 passes and still helped finish off Colorado’s win with a 75-yard drive in the final minute. Asked whether the staff had made a point of getting him going against Weber State instead of leaning on the run, Deion Sanders was direct.
“Yes, it was,” Sanders said. “And we accomplished that goal.”
Sanders didn’t need many words to size up the stat line.
“Seventeen of 23. 366 (yards). Four touchdowns and no picks,” Sanders said.
“I’m happy. I’m happy.”
Lewis still hasn’t thrown an interception in his college career, a stretch that now stands at 144 attempts. He also wasn’t interested in tying the two games together.
“I wouldn’t say the last game had anything to do with today,” he said. “I think every week is a new week to prove yourself.”
What Lewis did want to talk about was the protection in front of him.
“I love my big guys,” Lewis said of the Buffs offensive line. “As y’all can see, we’re sitting back there comfortable.
All you can ask for as a quarterback is time to throw the ball, and they’ve been providing that every week. I took those guys out to eat this week.
I’m consistently trying to feed those boys.”
Offensive lineman Chauncey Gooden, who took his official visit to Colorado alongside Lewis, said the confidence in the quarterback was there before the record book got involved.
“I trust JuJu with everything,” Gooden said. “JuJu is a winner. He’s always going to find a way to win the game.”
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Colorados 2027 QB Plan Just Got More Complicated
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Colorado Fans Have A Real Reason To Watch This Big 12 Shakeup
Week 2 of the 2026 college football season delivered the kind of early Big 12 chaos that keeps the conference race impossible to map cleanly, and Colorado fans had plenty to track as the leagues hierarchy started to shift. Oklahoma States upset of top-10 Oregon was the headliner, but it was hardly the only result that mattered, with BYU, Utah, Houston and Kansas State all taking care of business in games that helped clarify which teams are already separating themselves.
For Colorado, the broader picture matters almost as much as the Buffs own start. The updated Big 12 power rankings coming out of the weekend offer an early read on where the conference stands, and they also hint at how quickly the road ahead can change from one September Saturday to the next. With so many league contenders already making noise, Colorado has real reason to keep an eye on the shakeup as it begins to take shape. [Read more 🡒]