Julian “JuJu” Lewis opened the season as the quarterback Colorado was supposed to build around. Five games in, that plan looks anything but settled.
Lewis did not see the field in Colorado’s 29-7 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday, while Isaac Wilson got the start and went 26 of 44 for 290 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne also logged limited snaps, and Lewis stayed on the sideline throughout.
That absence quickly turned into something bigger than a simple quarterback shuffle.
Matt McCall, a Colorado alumnus who posts on X as “Moneyline Matt,” said Lewis’ camp had told Deion Sanders and the Colorado staff that the quarterback was done playing for the Buffaloes. McCall added that Lewis planned to sit out the rest of the season before entering the transfer portal. Neither Lewis, his family nor Colorado has confirmed that claim.
Sanders, though, made clear after the loss that Lewis’ situation was not as straightforward as a standard 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.”
That answer only goes so far once Colorado’s access rules enter the picture. Reporters can’t just walk into the football facility and ask Lewis to explain himself. The program decides which players are available, so unless Colorado puts Lewis in front of the media, Sanders is pointing reporters toward someone they may not be able to reach.
The same issue showed up in Wilson’s postgame availability Saturday. Several beat writers introduced themselves to him before taking questions, which suggested that some of them were speaking to him in that setting for the first time. For a quarterback making his first start in a nationally relevant conference game, that was telling.
And it makes Sanders’ suggestion even harder to carry out. If reporters have not had real access to Wilson, why should anyone assume Lewis will suddenly be made available to explain one of the most sensitive personnel questions on the roster?
It is also not the first time Sanders has answered a question by sending reporters to a player or staff member who is not typically accessible. That approach lets him avoid speaking for someone else, but it can also serve as a dodge when the program controls the access.
Colorado’s restrictions on outside coverage have already drawn notice. Before the season, reporters at open practices were barred from publishing observations about injuries, personnel groupings, player performances or depth-chart movement. The school also warned that breaking those rules could lead to removal, credential revocation or future access limits.
Sanders may genuinely want Lewis to tell his side. If that is the case, Colorado would need to make it possible.
Until then, the questions around Lewis are not going away.
In Other News...
Iowa State Is Suddenly Facing Real Year 1 Bowl Pressure
A 3-2 start has Iowa State in a familiar-looking spot on the surface, but the pressure around the program is different this fall. First-year coach Jimmy Rogers inherited a roster with significant turnover, and now the Cyclones are trying to turn early promise into something more concrete as they get ready to face BYU.
For a team adjusting to a new coach and a reshaped roster, bowl projections can feel like a small thing until they start reflecting the bigger expectations around the season. ESPN analyst Kyle Bonagura has Iowa State headed to the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against Washington, which would be a decent outcome for a transitional year, but the Cyclones still have to keep winning to make that conversation matter at all. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Faces A Defensive Test It Cant Afford To Flunk
Iowa State is getting a clear early warning about what awaits in its matchup with BYU, and the focus starts with quarterback Bear Bachmeier. His running style gives the Cougars a different kind of stress point to prepare for, and the Cyclones have spent the lead-up talking about how important defensive discipline will be against a quarterback who can turn a routine snap into a problem in a hurry.
The challenge comes with a little less margin for error because Iowa State is also working around the absence of starting safety Drew Surges, who is out with an injury but expected back soon. Even so, the Cyclones know the job in front of them is bigger than any one lineup note, and how well they handle Bachmeiers legs may say plenty about whether the defense can hold up when it needs to most. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Heads Into Iowa State Showdown With Major Injury Concerns
A Week 6 trip to BYU already looked like a measuring-stick game for Iowa State, and the injury report has only sharpened the edges of it. The Cyclones head into Provo with three defensive players, Drew Surges, Caden Crawford and Ka'Mori Moore, unavailable, which puts even more pressure on a unit that will need to deal with a physical road environment and a Cougars offense missing some of its own key pieces.
BYU will be without running back LJ Martin and linebacker Isaiah Glasker, absences that could reshape both the pace and the intensity of the matchup. For Iowa State, that means the usual road-game challenge now comes with a little less certainty on both sides of the ball, and a lot more emphasis on which team can adjust fastest once the first quarter starts to settle in. [Read more 🡒]