BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders leaned into his favorite hobby when the play of his young QB — more specifically, his running of a new offense — was mentioned. The Colorado coach refused to take the bait.
"Quit fishing,” Sanders said. “Put your pole down and quit fishing.”
His quarterback, Julian “JuJu” Lewis, turned in a record-setting performance Saturday during a 52-21 win over Weber State. Lewis became the first Colorado quarterback to throw
four touchdown passes in an opening half. This, after leading his team on a game-winning drive last week at Georgia Tech.
“Four touchdowns and no picks,” Sanders said. “I’m happy. I’m happy.”
The growth of Lewis — who turns 19 later this month — remains a work in progress. He's steadily finding his footing in the “Go-Go” system, an innovative offensive scheme created by coordinator Brennan Marion. It's predicated on the quick run-pass reads of Lewis.
At Georgia Tech, Lewis operated the running part of the offense with efficiency. But he struggled in the passing department — until the last drive of the game, when he guided the Buffaloes for what turned out to be the decisive TD in a 14-13 win.
On Saturday, against an FCS team in Weber State, the goal was to gain Lewis some confidence. He finished 17 of 23 for 366 yards before sitting for most of the second half with the game well in hand. He also had a short TD run.
“We accomplished that goal,” Sanders said of his QB who's yet to throw an interception since taking over late last season.
His four TDs in the first half tied the school mark for any half held by John Hessler and Cody Hawkins (twice). Those previous marks were all in the second half.
Lewis wasn't ready to draw any sort of correlation between last game and this one, because, "every week is a new week to prove yourself. ... Happy for the results.”
His first play of the game was a 66-yard touchdown strike to DeAndre Moore Jr., leading to a school-best 212 yards in the first quarter. It surpassed the mark Joel Klatt set in the opening quarter (211) against Texas A&M on Oct. 8, 2005.
“That’s cool,” Lewis said of the records on a day when the Buffaloes had 578 total yards. “We’re just trying to win the game ... Nobody cares about that 300 yards or whatever.”
Lewis spread the wealth, too. Joseph Williams had four catches for 123 yards and two scores, while Moore caught four passes for 107 yards.
“They always find a way to get open,” Lewis said of his receiving corps. “Every week, it’s just trying to find a way to get them the ball."
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