ATLANTA — Back home in Georgia, Julian Lewis definitely was not putting on a show for all those familiar faces.
Returning to his home state for the first time in his collegiate career, and debuting as the full-time starting quarterback for Colorado, Lewis’ homecoming was teetering on disaster.
There were throws that sailed too far or too wide. There were a few that bounced short. There were issues with snaps that kept turning into negative plays. And through more than 58 minutes of football, CU’s new Go-Go offense produced all of seven points.
Yet a tried-and-true measuring stick of quarterbacks is how they perform in the clutch. And with the game on the line, Lewis shook off all those struggles and delivered.
In a sometimes ugly but ultimately rewarding performance for CU, Lewis hit Charlie Williams with a 20-yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds remaining to lift the Buffaloes to a 14-13 victory against Georgia Tech on Thursday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
CU still had to withstand a late drive by Georgia Tech, but cornerback Boo Carter saved the day for the Buffs, blocking a 45-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer to set off a Colorado celebration on a muggy night in Atlanta.
The Buffs went 0-5 on the road last year and had lost their past seven games away from Folsom Field.
“The kid (Lewis) is still young. He’s still growing,” CU head coach Deion Sanders said. “I told him before (the drive), ‘I’m gonna use every one of these timeouts. You’re probably going to have a minute-something on the clock and go to work, because we’re not going to have a timeout.’ He dialed it up. (Brennan Marion) dialed the correct play and JuJu made the throw. I’m proud of him.”
Up until the Buffs’ final drive, Lewis had gone just 10-for-21 for 64 yards. Yet when CU took over at its own 25-yard line with 1 minute, 40 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Lewis looked every bit as poised and confident as any clutch quarterback.
Trailing 13-7 after Georgia Tech’s Aidan Birr booted a 29-yard field goal, Lewis opened CU’s final drive by connecting with DeKalon Taylor on a 20-yard screen pass. Lewis twice found Joseph Williams for a combined 23 yards before delivering the winner to Charlie Williams, who hadn’t caught a pass in three seasons of college football until Thursday night.
“We never doubted Julian,” Charlie Williams said. “When we went into half we knew that we had his back. He’s a baller, and he’ll finish the game any way he can. It was good to Ju be able to finish a game like that.”
The Buffs trailed 10-7 at the break following a low-scoring but highly eventful first half. CU opened the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run from Micah Welch, but the lead lasted all of 14 seconds, as Georgia Tech’s Rahkeem Smith went coast-to-coast on a 100-yard kickoff return that tied the game 7-7.
A 22-yard field goal by Birr with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter gave the Yellow Jackets the halftime lead. That three-point margin held until late in the fourth quarter, when Birr’s second field goal gave Georgia Tech a 13-7 lead before Lewis worked a little late-game magic.
The revamped CU defense also turned in an impressive debut. Georgia Tech rolled up 320 yards in its season-opening win in Boulder a year ago, but the rematch was an entirely different story.
Georgia Tech running back Justice Haynes, a Michigan transfer, gained 26 yards on his first four attempts but managed just 38 yards on 15 carries the rest of the way. Georgia Tech finished with only 51 rushing yards, and while that total was diminished by three sacks from CU newcomer Lamont Lester Jr., the Yellow Jackets still recorded only 73 yards on 27 attempts — just 2.7 per carry — without the sacks.
“We beat a really, really good team and a really, really good coaching staff,” Sanders said. “Our guys were resilient. I’m proud of them. I’m truly happy for them. We didn’t have many flights back home with a victory, or any flights back home, but this is going to be a wonderful flight. I’m really pleased.”