Salter back in for Buffs, Lewis redshirts 

BY Leopoldo Rivera IV | 365 Sports 

After another loss, the Colorado Buffaloes (3-8, 1-7 Big 12) find themselves already looking to the future. 

It was a 42-17 defeat to Arizona State, where Colorado failed to capitalize on four turnovers. 

The offense was only able to convert the turnovers into three points, highlighting its struggles with consistency. 

In his first home start, quarterback Julian Lewis struggled, completing only 19/38 of his passes for 161 yards, a touchdown and was sacked four times. After the game, Lewis had reached his cap on playing time to maintain redshirt eligibility. 

Tuesday, head coach Deion Sanders shared that Lewis would be shelved for the season and would exercise the option to redshirt. The move shows Sanders has already changed his outlook to focus on next season and the development of his core players. 

Quarterback Kaidon Salter will be back as a starter and try to close out the season with a victory. On the road against Kansas State, which is fighting for bowl eligibility, Colorado will have a challenging task. The Wildcats will rely on the ground game and attack the Buffs’ defense. 

“Those guys are pretty good. They know what they’re doing. They’ve been successful with running the ball downhill. We gotta stop it,” Sanders said. “It’s not like we don’t know what’s coming. Sooner or later, you have to man up and take on the responsibility of stopping the run.”

Moving on from senior day, Colorado is looking for production from its younger defensive linemen, like Brandon Davis-Swain and London Merritt. The statistics say Colorado will get beaten in this category as they’re giving up 224 yards per game. 

Colorado will also be focused on Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson, who is still a veteran presence and capable of hurting the Buffs. He’s thrown for 1,780 passing yards and 14 passing touchdowns. 

“These guys, they get after it, they take the understanding and personality of their coach, and they compete,” Sanders said. “They got a quarterback that can get it done.” 

On the road, Colorado has yet to find a victory, with the offense specifically struggling. In Salter’s last start, the Buffs suffered a 52-17 loss at home, and before that, went scoreless behind him in Utah. Playing his last-ever college game, the stakes will be high for Salter. 

Kickoff is set for 11:00 am CST (FS1).