Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis came to Boulder with a significant amount of pressure on his shoulders. The former five-star signal-caller had a great deal of hype around him, but he was also replacing Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and second-team All-American Shedeur Sanders, a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns. Sanders put up head-turning numbers in his two seasons with the Buffaloes, but since he departed to the NFL last season, Lewis has struggled filling his shoes.
Things haven’t looked better through the first four games of this season either, and things reached a fever pitch when Lewis was benched in the middle of Saturday’s 23-13 loss to Baylor. After the loss, head coach Deion Sanders explained exactly why he benched the former top prospect in favor of backup Wilson. We’re on the headset, and there’s a lot of things you guys don’t know and aren’t privy to, and we don’t want you to be privy to.
Not the blame, I’ll take the responsibility (for) the decision that I made because I was trying to get us going. That’s it, just based on, we gotta get going, we’ve got to score some points.” Sanders' remarks weren't exactly a ringing endorsement of Lewis or his future as the Buffaloes QB1. In relief, Wilson completed 12 of 25 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown — though it came in a losing effort.
However, Sanders admitted he wasn’t looking for Wilson to pull off a miracle fourth-quarter comeback. And the one thing I told him is you don’t have to be the man, just get the ball to the men and we’re good. That’s the one thing that we need to understand from that position — you don’t have to be the guy, just get the ball and distribute to the guys and we’re fine.” Sanders hasn’t confirmed whether or not Lewis will start next week’s game against No. 11 Texas Tech, but if he does, one would imagine he’d be on a short leash given what happened against Baylor.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
