Colorado at West Virginia
With seven sacks, fifteen tackles for loss, and eight pass disruptions by West Virginia it was a game that reminded me of those gutty performances by Shedeur Sanders before he left for the NFL. Yeah, Colorado lost this one 29-22—their third in a row. But in the loss they may have finally found a way forward. With neither of the two QB’s Coach Prime had been rotating in since the start of the season working and their two starting tackles out, Freshman QB Julian Lewis started for the first time in his college career and he looked great. Lewis was a five star recruit out of Georgia and has been amazing from the first time he touched a football as a young boy—starting to get major college scholarship offers from the time he was 14. He was named Georgia state player of the year every year from the age of 10 on and while in Junior High was awarded the eighth grade national player of the year award. Prior to becoming the starting QB at Carrollton High School as a 14 year old Freshman, he had already received 15 NCAA college scholarship offers. His first high school game he threw for 288 yards and five TD’s. That first year he threw for 4,118 yards and 48 TD’s in a performance Sports Illustrated described as, “the most staggering freshman season in Georgia’s robust high school football history.” As a freshman he led his previously unranked team to an undefeated season and the state championship game where he threw for 531 yards and five TD’s in a loss. He was the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class but decided to decommit from USC to go play for Coach Prime in Colorado. Chances are really good that you may not see Lewis play more than once again this season, as although this was his first start it’s the third game that he has appeared in. The red-shirt rule allows a player to play in no more than four games and still retain their freshman status—giving them an extra year of development without losing a year of eligibility. With a 3-7 overall record and just two games remaining there is no reason to play him and with their starting tackles out I’m not sure I’d risk him getting hurt. With him there Coach Prime should be able to bring in a pretty talented surround cast and most certainly keep that Buffalo fan base energized.
Regarding this game it kind of ground out slowly with both teams punting after three or four plays their first two possessions each before punting. For Colorado it was their first three possessions while West Virginia fumbled on their third and lost the ball to the Buffaloes. Starting from their own 19 yard line they picked up just one yard on their first play then lost seven with Lewis getting sacked on the second play. He threw an incompletion on their third forcing them to punt. With their Junior Punter Damon Greaves standing back in the end zone Colorado’s punt was blocked and recovered by the Mountaineers in the end zone for a 2-point Safety. Starting from their own 25 yard line after a return of Colorado’s kick and a penalty for holding, West Virginia made it down to the Buffalo 2 yard line. With just 19 seconds left in the quarter and sitting 4th and goal, the Mountaineers’ Freshman QB Scotty Fox Jr. handed the ball off to Sophomore LB Curtis Jones Jr. who ran it into the end zone to give them a 9-0 game. After a punt by either team to start the second quarter they both scored a field goal and a touchdown to make it a 19-9 game going into the half after a missed 2-point conversion by Colorado.
The Mountaineers got off to a rough start in the second half with their first three possessions consisting of a three-and-out, an interception, and then another interception on their first play from scrimmage which Lewis cashed in for the Buffaloes two plays later on a 23 yard no huddle TD pass to Junior WR Omarion Miller from the shotgun to close the deficit to just three points at 19-16. West Virginia would finally get it back together on their last possession of the 3rd Qtr, a 15 play 56 yard drive and 37 yard field goal by their Senior Place Kicker Kade Hensley to make it 22-16 at the end of three. The Buffaloes would keep pace with a 35 yard field goal of their own to close the gap to just three points, 22-19, early in the 4th Qtr. Holding the Mountaineers to a punt on their next possession Colorado’s opportunity would fade on a sack, a penalty, and an incompletion which forced them to punt as well. Ten plays later the Mountaineers were back in the end zone on another short TD run by their Sophomore LB Curtis Jones Jr. to put them up 29-19 with just four minutes left in the game. The Buffaloes would score again but 14 plays into their drive they were sitting 4th and 13 at the West Virginia 20 yard line and sent their Senior Place Kicker Alejandro Mata in who converted a 38 yard field goal which, with just over 1 minute left in the game, gave us our final score of 29-22.
For Colorado, their red-shirt Freshman QB Julian Lewis connected on 22-of-35 for 299 yards, 2 TD’s—1 each to Junior WR Omarion Miller and Sophomore Joseph Williams—and no interceptions. The fact that Colorado’s offensive line gave up seven sacks tells you that they couldn’t win in the trenches against these guys and therefore any kind of decent running game was also out of reach. With the negative yards from the QB added in, collectively the Buffaloes rushed 38 times for just 51 yards. For West Virginia, Freshman QB Scotty Fox Jr. was 17-of-28 for 202 yards, 1 TD to Freshman TE Ryan Ward, and 2 interceptions while also rushing 17 times for 58 yards. On the ground the Mountaineers combined for 167 yards on 53 carries with Sophomore LB Curtis Jones Jr. finding the end zone twice. After a week off, Colorado will be hosting last year’s Big-12 Champion Arizona State.
Kansas at Arizona
Brent Brennan took over as head coach of the Arizona in 2024 with the departure of Jedd Fisch to Washington. After going 4-8 in his first year the Wildcats are sitting 6-3 and bowl eligible after their narrow 24-20 victory over Kansas this past Saturday with a chance to have a 9-3 season with three games left on their dance card. After a three-and-out on their first possession the Wildcats would be the first to get points up on the board during their second on a 16 yard TD pass out of the shotgun from Junior QB Noah Fafita to Senior TE Sam Olson to go up 7-0. After holding the Jayhawks to a punt Arizona would be held to a three-and-out followed by a TD tying 1 yard run by Senior QB Jalon Daniels with time running out in the 1st Qtr.
The Wildcats would be held to another three-and-out to start the 2nd Qtr while the Jayhawks would take a 14-7 lead on a 24 yard TD pass by Daniels to Senior WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr. at the end of a six play 78 yard drive and then add three more points with a 46 yard field goal by their Senior Place Kicker Laith Marjan on their next possession. With just over four minutes left in the half the Wildcats would drive the ball 75 yards in 11 plays that included a pick six that got called back due to a defensive holding penalty. Sitting 1st and 10 at the Kansas 15 yard line Arizona would make it back into the end zone on a no-huddle 7 yard yard run by Fafita and then an 8 yard TD pass from Fafita to Junior RB Quincy Craig to cut the lead to just three points, 17-14 at the break.
The third quarter started and ended with a three-and-out, one by each team. In between Arizona’s Michael Salgado-Medina kicked a 41 yard field goal to tie the score at 17 each. Laith Marjan would follow suit at the end of the Jayhawks next possession to go back out in front 20-17. The first two possessions by both teams to start the fourth quarter ended in punts. On their third possession Kansas would work their way down to the Arizona 18 yard line where they would fumble but recover the ball at the eleven yard line. Sitting 4th and 2 Marjan would miss a 30 yard field goal—the first of his career at that distance—with Arizona getting the ball back with a little over two minutes left in the game. After six plays into their eight play drive Arizona’s Junior RB Quincy Craig would put together back-to-back runs of 18 and 24 yards with the later taking him into the end zone to put the Wildcats up 24-20 with just 39 seconds left. Exacerbated by multiple incompletions and a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty Kansas ran out of time on their own side of mid-field.
For Arizona, Junior QB Noah Fafita was 16-of-31 for 158 yards, 2 TD’s—1 to Senior TE Sam Olson and the other to Junior RB Quincy Craig—and no interceptions while also rushing 13 times for 25 more yards. On the ground the Wildcats collectively rushed 29 times for 165 yards with Craig picking up the only TD. For Kansas, Senior QB Jalon Daniels connected on 15-of-29 for 1 TD to Senior WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr. On the ground it was Daniels and Senior RB Daniel Hishaw Jr. who collectively rushed 32 times for 141 of the team’s total 170 yards with Daniels picking up the only TD. Kansas led in first downs, total yards of offense, converted both of their 4th down attempts and had the ball 11 minutes longer but were hurt by two critical penalties—both of which cost them points on the board.