Colorado dropped its third straight game on Saturday in a 29-22 road loss to West Virginia to fall to 3-7 on the season and end any hopes of bowl eligibility.
In his first career start, freshman Julian Lewis provided optimism for the future for the Buffaloes, but Jordan Seaton's absence loomed large as Lewis was constantly harassed and sacked seven times.
But the freshman showed some moxie, flashing moments of brilliance when he had time to do so. He completed 22-of-35 passes for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It's a performance that Deion Sanders and the staff can certainly build on in the future.
The quick chemistry between Lewis and WR Omarion Miller was apparent. Miller caught six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown in the loss. It'll be imperative to hang on to both this offseason to give Colorado a nice base to build next year's offense.
Colorado's defense, while certainly better than the last two weeks, still allowed 167 rushing yards and couldn't get a key fourth-quarter stop as the Mountaineers drove down the field to take a 10-point lead with just over four minutes left to play.
It was a step in the right direction after back-to-back embarrassing performances. Colorado showed some fight that had certainly been missing the last couple of weeks, but it wasn't enough to earn a much-needed win on the road.
Instead, Colorado is now 3-7 and playing for little outside of pride and future development moving forward.
The future is bright for Julian Lewis
Coach Prime said it best after the game.
"You can see he's gonna be special," Sanders said.
The youngster battled. And he did it without either one of Colorado's starting tackles. He was under consistent pressure, but never folded. He fought until the end and put the Buffaloes in a position to have a chance down the stretch of the game.
The big decision for Sanders moving forward is that with two regular-season games left, he would have to burn Lewis' redshirt year to start him in both games. This was the third game Lewis has participated in this season. You can play in up to four and maintain eligibility for a redshirt.
If Lewis is this good already, he's probably not staying all four years in college, anyway. So it may not matter, but it will be a point of discussion during the upcoming bye week.
Perhaps starting Lewis in two weeks at home against Arizona State to give the home fans something to cheer about makes the most sense, followed by allowing Kaidon Salter to start his final collegiate game on the road against Kansas State to maintain flexibility for the talented freshman in the future. That's probably the most diplomatic approach for Sanders to take.