Colorado wins home opener behind vertical passing threat
Boulder, CO— The Colorado Buffaloes (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) used the big play to defeat the Weber State Wildcats 52-21 (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky) at Folsom Field on Saturday.
Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis’ first two completions of the game went for touchdowns: 66 and 63 yards to DeAndre Moore Jr. Joseph Williams, respectively. Lewis threw four touchdown passes in the first half alone, tying the program record for most touchdowns thrown in a single half. He finished the game with a career-high 366 passing yards and a passer rating of 265.
“We weren’t satisfied with the outcome, and I thought we could score more than 52 points,” Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said postgame. “Coach [Brennan] Marion said before the game if we don’t score 70, he was gonna run the players.”
Early on, Colorado wide receiver Ernest Campbell caught his first touchdown pass in the black and gold, with a 48-yard reception from Lewis to make the score 21-7.
The Buffaloes' defense hunkered down early and forced two Wildcat punts and a turnover on downs. But, Weber State did find success through the air, as quarterback Nate Dahle threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was Weber State head coach Eric Kjar’s son, Noah. Kjar caught seven passes for 121 yards and two scores. The Wildcats totaled 372 yards of offense in the loss.
Colorado running back Micah Welch went for over 100 rushing yards in a game for the first time in his career with 106 yards on 11 rushes. It was the first time in the “Coach Prime” era that a player has rushed for triple digits. Welch also found the end zone for the second week in a row with a 55-yard touchdown to give the Buffaloes a 28-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
However, the game was far from clean for Colorado. The Buffaloes committed 13 penalties for 112 yards, with Boo Carter muffing a punt and Julian Lewis being strip-sacked. Weber State converted Lewis’ fumble into a score to cut the Colorado lead to seven in the first quarter.
“It’s (the penalties) not good at all; we can’t win consistently with those types of penalties,” Sanders said. “That starts with me fixing those errors.”
One special teams highlight was the debut of second-year placekicker Elliot Arnold. Despite being listed second on the depth chart, he hit a 52-yard field goal in the third quarter and had kickoff duties too. He was a perfect 7 for 7 on extra points.
“He’s our distance kicker and did a great job, I’m really proud of him Sanders said about Arnold. “He got his confidence and swagger back.”
Freshman quarterback Kanael Sweetwyne also made his Colorado debut after replacing Julian Lewis under center in the third quarter. Sweetwyne went seven-for-10 passing for 35 yards and ran in for a nine-yard score to make it 52-14 in the fourth quarter. Third-string quarterback Isaac Wilson also made an appearance late on.
Colorado finished the game with 11 explosive plays, including eight passes that went for 15 yards or more and three rushes for 10-plus yards. The Buffaloes are now 2-0 to start a season for the first time since 2023.
Colorado travels to Evanston, Illinois, to face the Northwestern Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Big 10) on Saturday, Sept. 19. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT (FOX or FS1).
Comments