Colorado football isn’t back, but Georgia Tech was different
Don’t call Colorado football back yet.
But don’t call it dead either.
The Buffaloes opened their 2026 campaign with a 14-13 upset over Georgia Tech in the ATL. Colorado had some fourth-quarter magic, with a resilience completely absent from last year’s 3-9 season.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t convincing for four quarters. And it certainly wasn’t enough to call Colorado football back from the depths of its 2025 season.
But something felt different.
It was enough to offer something that doubters and believers alike desperately needed: evidence.
Exhibit A: the Buffaloes can run the ball. Exhibit B: the revamped trenches are working. Exhibit C: the defense can stop the run.
And the most important, Exhibit D: when a game gets ugly, Colorado can find a way to win.
Quarterback Julian Lewis was far from spectacular. The redshirt freshman struggled to find a groove through the air for three and a half quarters. But when Colorado needed him most, he delivered. With the Buffaloes trailing 13-7 with less than two minutes to go, “JuJu” led a cinematic touchdown drive that ended with a 20-yard strike to a wheelin’ Charlie Williams with nearly 30 seconds remaining.
Then, safety Boo Carter made the play that kept Lewis’ magic from meaning nothing. He blocked what would’ve been Georgia Tech’s game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock.
However, that last sequence doesn’t erase any of the issues that were exposed on Thursday night.
The debut of the “Go-Go” offense looked explosive on the ground, but the passing game was less convincing. Lewis had just 64 passing yards through three quarters, and receivers were dropping bunnies that were landing right in their hands.
Special teams were not special, with Colorado surrendering a 100-yard kickoff return and allowing a potential game-tying field goal to be blocked in the fourth quarter. Those are problems that need to be tuned up against Weber State.
The biggest question is whether Colorado was the team that played the last 90 seconds or the team that played everything leading up to it.
The Buffaloes and head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders were going to be dragged through the mud if they didn’t miraculously win that game. That’s what feels different about this squad compared to 2025.
The Buffaloes didn’t let their shortcomings define them. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and took a game out of the jaws of defeat. With the constant spotlight the Buffaloes are under, had they lost this game, mayhem would’ve ensued.
But Colorado also showed something that was lacking last season:
An identity.
The Buffaloes ran the ball at will, with production from five different rushers for 197 yards. The revamped offensive line generated movement, pushing around former Buff Tawfiq Thomas, who was trash-talking on social media before the game.
The defensive front spent the night making Georgia Tech’s rushing attack work for every yard. Colorado held the Yellow Jackets to just 51 yards on the ground with eight tackles for loss.
That part matters. Especially when, last season, Colorado's inability to win in the trenches became one of the defining problems of yesteryear.
In Hobby Dodd Stadium, it did the opposite.
New offensive coordinator Brennan Marion established the run game as promised, and new defensive coordinator Chris Marve had his unit flying downhill.
That’s why this win matters. Not because Colorado and “Coach Prime” are all the way back. It’s far too early for that, and the Buffaloes had zero business winning or losing the game.
Thursday night’s season-opening thriller was hardly a flawless performance. The Buffaloes will face potentially tougher squads where they won’t get a second chance.
But for a program coming off its worst season in the “Coach Prime” era, the first step is showing you’re different.
Colorado did that Thursday night.
Something special might be brewing in Boulder, Colorado. Now the Buffaloes have to prove that Thursday night was a spark, not a fluke.
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