For the first time in his football-playing life, Julian Lewis wasn’t sure if he was going to get an opportunity to play this season.

But when the 18-year-old phenom finally did get the chance to make his first career start for Colorado on Saturday afternoon at West Virginia, he made the most of it. 

“He did some wonderful things that you can see that he is going to be special,” Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders said. “Overall, to me, the kid played well. He played well enough for us to win the game.”

Even though CU fell to the Mountaineers by a final of 29-22, eliminating the program from bowl contention in a disappointing third season under Coach Prime, Lewis’ play may have provided the glimmer of hope the fan base was looking for after back-to-back blowout losses against Utah and Arizona.

After the Buffs offense failed to score on its first five drives with four punts and a turnover on downs, the true freshman quarterback settled in after the first quarter and led the team to points on five of its final eight drives, finishing with 299 passing yards, two touchdowns, and, maybe most importantly, zero turnovers.

“It felt good out there. The offense was dominating. (We were) executing on the run, pass. The o-line was blocking up front,” Lewis said afterward. “It was going exactly how I expected and wanted it to.

“I felt amazing playing football again. Of course, it hurts to lose. We gotta play better and go out there and execute.”

If there’s one area to critique Lewis, it’s the seven sacks he took which, even behind a banged-up offensive line that was without star left tackle Jordan Seaton, was far too many for the amount of time he had to throw.

“We knew they were gonna send pressure (against) a freshman quarterback, all that stuff,” Lewis said. “I gotta get the ball out faster. The o-line did all they could, protected up front and gave me some time back there. That’s why I had 299 (yards).”

A win to keep bowl eligibility alive would’ve been nice, too, but the fact that Lewis shook off a slow start and, for the most part, looked unfazed in his first start as a college quarterback is all Coach Prime and company could’ve asked for.

Lewis clearly already has a connection with a pair of wide receivers in Omarion Miller and Joseph Williams, both of whom could return next season, as that duo combined for nine catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.

He’s also not concerned about potentially burning his redshirt, which would happen if he plays in both of the final two games.

“I want to play football. I’ve been sitting down all season. I’m ready to play,” Lewis said.

He’s also not bitter about the limited playing time he’s seen in his first season in Boulder.

“Honeslty, it’s been a blessing,” Lewis said. “Coach Prime has been a great mentor, Coach (Pat) Shurmur’s a great mentor. It’s a lot of very knowledgeable guys around. Just trying to soak up as much as I could from the sidelines, even from (Kaidon Salter) and his experience and (Ryan) Staub from his experience.”

Now, with a bowl game out of the picture and with Lewis looking like a guy the Buffs can build around heading into the 2026 season, it’s on Sanders to put together a roster and coaching staff capable of competing in the Big 12 because as he admitted this week, this year’s group just hasn’t been good enough.

There’s already a couple of key building blocks in place, as long as CU holds onto them. With Lewis at quarterback, Seaton at left tackle, Miller and Williams at wide receiver, and someone like safety Tawfiq Byard on defense, that’s certainly a solid starting point.

“It is really (about) roster management, coach management, understanding what we’re going to do going forward,” Coach Prime said. “But I promise there are going to be some changes.”