Colorado Plans to Turn to Five-Star Freshman QB Julian Lewis

Much like West Virginia, the Colorado Buffaloes have had their fair share of struggles on the offensive side of the football this season. Unlike the Mountaineers, they have yet to find an answer at quarterback.

Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter did the best he could with the lack of support around him, completing 63% of his passes for 1,242 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions while also adding 293 yards and five touchdowns on 88 carries. Sophomore Ryan Staub has also had some opportunities, but has turned the ball over four times in 55 pass attempts.

In a 52-17 blowout loss to Arizona this past Saturday, Deion Sanders inserted true freshman Julian Lewis and saw some flashes. He completed 9-of-17 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown and added a 15-yard scamper to his day. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, the Buffs are expected to make him the starter for this week's matchup versus the Mountaineers.

What can WVU expect?

In his high school days at Carrollton in Georgia, Lewis was one of the nation's best passers. As a junior, he completed 267-of-353 passes (75%) for 3,798 yards, 48 touchdowns, and seven picks. He reclassified, so he should be a senior right now. In his three years at the prep level, he managed to throw for over 10,000 yards and 144 touchdowns. He's deadly accurate with the football, especially underneath.

As far as the run game is concerned, he's not going to keep WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley up at night. Although he has the look of a dual-threat quarterback with a build of 6'1", 190 pounds, he's not exactly a threat if he were to take off with it. He's not totally stationary, but isn't looking to call his own number, and when he does, he's not going to run away from you. More often than not, he'll use his athleticism to evade pressure and extend the play.

As a matter of fact, he's probably the least mobile threat WVU has faced since the season opener against Robert Morris. Parker Navarro, Eli Holstein, Jalon Daniels, Devin Dampier, Bear Bachmeier, Tayven Jackson, and Josh Hoover all brought more to the run game.

What will WVU do?

Because of how limited in experience Lewis is, I'd expect Alley to throw a lot at the youngster. He'll show different looks up front and also have safeties rolling right as they're about to snap the ball to change what Lewis is thinking pre-snap. Colorado's o-line has, for the most part, done a pretty good job of keeping a clean pocket for the quarterback to work from, so I'm expecting Alley to have a slightly higher blitz percentage this week to try and get home and force Lewis into rushed decisions.

Colorado Plans to Turn to Five-Star Freshman QB Julian Lewis — What Can WVU Expect?

What can WVU expect?

What will WVU do?

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