
With an extra week to recover, there's a decent chance star left tackle Jordan Seaton returns for the Colorado Buffaloes' next game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The sophomore Seaton was sidelined for the first time in his college career for Colorado's 29-22 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers due to an apparent lower-body injury. After being considered a game-time decision, he was seen wearing a walking boot on the sidelines.
Fortunately for the Buffs, coach Deion Sanders is optimistic that Seaton will be back in uniform when the Sun Devils visit Folsom Field on Nov. 22.
"I think he'll be available after the bye," Sanders said Saturday, per BuffsTV. "I don't think he's gonna shut it down whatsoever. I don't think his injury deserves that. I'm talking out of my head, though. I don't know the severity."
True freshman quarterback Julian "JuJu" Lewis may not have admitted it, but the Buffs were at a major disadvantage without their starting left tackle (plus starting right tackle Larry Johnson III) in Morgantown. Kareem Harden, Aki Ogunbiyi and Andre Roye Jr. each saw playing time and largely struggled to keep Lewis protected in his first career start.
"We knew they (West Virginia) were going to send pressure on a freshman quarterback and all that stuff. I got to get the ball out faster," Lewis said. "The O-line did all they could and protected up front and gave me some time back there. That's why I had 299 (passing yards) or whatever I had. The O-line did their thing, I just didn't execute the throws... Guys stepped up this week that didn't expect to play. I'm just grateful that they did their thing, and I just got to do better next time."
Although he was overall effective at throwing the ball away under pressure when possible, Lewis took seven sacks behind an overmatched offensive line. West Virginia also recorded an impressive 15 tackles for loss while holding Colorado to a minuscule 1.3 yards per rush.
Colorado, now out of bowl contention, is entering its second bye week with a disappointing 3-7 record. Seaton, safety Tawfiq Byard and now Lewis have been bright spots, but the Buffs are still staring down a long offseason in Boulder.
"This is not who we are," Sanders said. "We're better than this, and they deserve better than this. I want better than this. I feel like I coach better than this. I feel like we got players that are so much better than what the production is that we're putting out. So then you got to identify the coaches, that's us, and that starts with me, because I feel like we got the nucleus inside the locker room that we should be getting it done."
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