Julian Lewis' first start proves Deion Sanders made Colorado-sized mistake

In his first start under center for the Colorado Buffaloes, Julian Lewis showed that he should have been the starting quarterback for head coach Deion Sanders all season.

Just the sixth true freshman to start at quarterback for Colorado since 2000, Lewis went 22-for-35 with 299 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-22 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday. The 299 yards marked the second-highest passing total of the season for Colorado, now 3-7 on the year.

Throughout the first nine games of the season, senior transfer Kaidon Salter started eight contests, while sophomore Ryan Staub earned the remaining one. That left just 21 pass attempts for Lewis before Saturday's game, as it appeared he was heading for a redshirt season.

However, reports indicate that Lewis will now be the starter for Colorado's next two games (Nov. 22 at home against Arizona State and Nov. 29 at Kansas State).

Entering Saturday, Colorado had just four games this season in which the quarterback had thrown for more than 200 yards. It was coming off back-to-back campaigns where the numbers were dismal, with Staub throwing for just 65 yards in mop-up duty in a blowout loss at Utah and Salter totaling just 121 yards as the Buffs were destroyed at home by Arizona to start November.

Granted, hindsight is 20-20, as Lewis might not have performed any better against what has been the nation's second-toughest schedule through Week 10, with Colorado's opponents so far combining for a 48-20 record (.706 winning percentage). That said, Lewis demonstrated on Saturday his touch on long throws that could have given the Buffs a different weapon than they had with Salter under center.