Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis reveals he wasn't reading defenses for majority of 2025 season
With Big 12 Media Days in full swing in Frisco, Texas, members of the media are loading up on content to help keep fans satiated during these final weeks before the start of the 2026 season.
One program in particular that never disappoints in that regard is the Colorado Buffaloes, and with a head coach as bombastic as Deion Sanders, it's easy to see why.
But oddly enough, it wasn't Neon Deion who provided the most intriguing quote of the afternoon on Tuesday.
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That honor went to Colorado quarterback Julian "JuJu" Lewis.
The former five-star signal caller from Georgia went through a long and winding recruiting process before ending up in Boulder for the 2025 season, and while most of his freshman year saw him backing up starter Kaidon Salter, Lewis did see some action in a handful of games.
The results were mixed, with a 4:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio highlighting the good while an 0-2 record and 55% completion percentage showing plenty of room for growth.
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What was eyebrow-raising, though, was Lewis' response to what he's looking to improve on the most from last season to this one.
"I'm actually looking at the defenses now," Lewis said. "Last year we (weren't) really looking at defenses much, just kind of high school free-balling, just out there playing football."
There's a good chance he didn't actually mean that they weren't studying defenses in the film room at Colorado.
After all, Lewis was a true freshman who wasn't even old enough to vote at the start of last season, so it's possible he just meant that he was a little overwhelmed at times on the field.
That's not how large swathes of the internet interpreted his answer, though, and in the modern media age of sports, perception is often reality.
If Lewis meant what he said, that's a horrible look for Coach Prime and the Colorado staff as a whole.
The Buffaloes went 3-9 last year, regressing from their nine-win season in 2024 after losing talented players like Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and Jimmy Horn Jr.
In fairness, Deion did bring in a new offensive coordinator in Brennan Marion, whom many believe is one of the brightest offensive minds in the sport thanks to his innovative "Go-Go" scheme during his time at UNLV, so perhaps the problem has been addressed.
Only time will tell, but for a program that puts as much emphasis on flash, sizzle, and presentation as Prime's Buffaloes do, this is a damning quote that demonstrates a lack of preparation.
Again, this quote could have been entirely misconstrued, but sometimes the results on the field speak for themselves.
It will be interesting to see what a year of preparation as well as the partnership with Marion does for Lewis' development.
He has all the tools, now he just needs to put it together.