Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes fell to a 22-29 loss that ended their hopes of bowl contention. Quarterback Julian Lewis took over for Kaiden Saltier as the starter against West Virginia, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
With just three games remaining, Colorado needed to win three of their next three encounters. Following tonight’s loss, they are now out of bowl contention. This has led to increased pressure on Coach Prime in his remaining two games this season.
Deion Sanders Issues Julian Lewis Assessment
After weeks of discussion surrounding the topic, Coach Prime finally decided to make a change at quarterback this weekend. Despite a 22-29 loss, Sanders was full of praise for his Freshman quarterback, who took over to lead the offense today.
Coach Prime on Julian Lewis:
“You can see he’s gonna be special” pic.twitter.com/P0ufBEtOlW
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) November 8, 2025
“First start. He did some wonderful things. And you can see that Julian Lewis is going to be very special. And to me, overall, the kid played well. He played well enough for us to win the game.” Sanders shared in his post-game press conference.
Lewis was the five-star quarterback prospect Colorado elected not to redshirt this summer. Despite that, he has yet to see any significant game time this season. Lewis flipped his commitment from USC to join Sanders in Colorado.
Meanwhile, West Virginia had their own Freshman quarterback. Scotty Fox threw for over 201 yards and a touchdown against Colorado today. After losing to West Virginia, led by the Freshman quarterback, questions have started to emerge surrounding Sanders’ job security.
When Sanders signed with Colorado, the Buffaloes were coming off a 1-11 season. In his first season in charge, Sanders coached them to a 4-8 record. After that, the head coach improved, going 9-4 in 2024 and reaching his first bowl game in Boulder.
If Colorado fired Sanders without cause, he would be owed $33.6 million before Dec. 31, 2025, according to USA TODAY Sports. Sanders signed a contract extension during the offseason that increased his salary to $54 million.”
Following today’s loss, according to reports from ON3 Sports, Lewis will continue as the starter for Colorado. This has led to some scrutiny as fans, as this decision will remove any hope of the quarterback redshirting his Freshman year.
“Julian Lewis will start the final three games of the season for Colorado, effectively burning his redshirt, per head coach Deion Sanders, via Jared Greenberg. Lewis will make his first collegiate start against West Virginia on Saturday.” The report read.
According to PFSN’s playoff meter, they are projected to finish the season 4-7. Lewis will now be able to finish his season with little expectations now that bowl contention is out of the window. The Buffaloes are on a bye week next week, where the Quarterback stated he will be studying film.
