Deion Sanders, Colorado make big decision on QB Julian Lewis

The Colorado Buffaloes are going to play the long game with freshman quarterback Julian Lewis.

Lewis, a former five-star recruit from Carrollton, Georgia, has played in just four games this season with two starts. He started in Colorado's 29-22 loss to West Virginia, in which he threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He also started a game against No. 20 Arizona State, a game in which he threw for 161 yards and a touchdown.

College football's redshirt rules allow a player to take a redshirt season by playing in four or fewer games in a season. As such, Colorado has decided to keep Lewis out of its season finale against Kansas State.

The decision came down from head coach Deion Sanders.

"I've made a decision that JuJu is gonna redshirt," Sanders said on Tuesday, according to Kyle Bonagura of ESPN. "That's my decision. I want what's best for the kid, what's best for his family, what's best for this wonderful university."

Colorado is doing the right thing by QB Julian Lewis 

Sanders mentioned that Lewis wasn't exactly thrilled about the fact that he won't be able to play this weekend. It's worth noting that Colorado is doing the right thing by him, though.

It may not feel like it at the moment, when he's 18 years old and simply wanting to play football. This move by Sanders will allow Lewis to maintain his four years of eligibility, though, and that's a huge deal.

He was able to get the redshirt season while also getting the experience of two starts. Honestly, it was a win-win for all involved, and if Lewis sticks around in college for four more seasons and winds up a super senior, he'll be thanking his lucky stars that Sanders made this decision for him.

"I'm not going to say [Lewis] was happy, because he's a competitor," Sanders said. "He wants to compete; he wants to play."

Colorado, 3-8, could absolutely use Lewis against a 5-6 Kansas State team fighting for bowl eligibility this weekend. Still, ultimately, Coach Prime and the Buffaloes are doing the right thing by their player.

That kind of thing speaks volumes in a locker room, so even though Lewis may be smarting about the decision now, he'll come to find out that Sanders and the program that recruited him were looking out for him, and that's rare.