BOULDER — As Colorado’s first practice of spring camp came to a close, Karl Dorrell searched out quarterback Brendon Lewis during the team’s cool-down stretches.
“That was a fabulous practice,” Dorrell told his quarterback.
During his first post-practice media availability of the spring, Dorrell couldn’t stop heaping praise on Lewis.
“He’s off to a great start in proving that he’s a really great player,” Dorrell said. “I saw a completely different player. His management skills and all that experience he gained over the course of the season last year has really paid off for his composure, his confidence, his mannerisms, how he exudes himself in the huddle, how he breaks the huddle, how he’s commanding everything in terms of information he’s giving out. He’s definitely a much different player.”
Reporters weren’t allowed to watch what went down inside the Buffs’ indoor practice facility on Wednesday, but Dorrell shared a few of the details. Those include freshman tight end had “seven or eight” catches and sophomore wide receiver Ty Robinson jumping over two defenders to bring in a 40-yard catch. We don’t know who the quarterback was for those plays but, considering the praise, it’s probably safe to assume Lewis was involved.
For what it’s worth, Lewis agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“I totally feel like a different quarterback,” Lewis said. “The way Coach (Mike) Sanford and the whole staff implemented the offense before spring ball, I feel like we all went out there and knew what to do and did it.”
Lewis is part of a quarterback competition that hasn’t been fully defined but is probably either two deep or four deep. Lewis, a sophomore, is the incumbent but junior JT Shrout, sophomore Drew Carter and redshirt-freshman Maddox Kopp will vie for the job. Shrout, who competed with Lewis last year, is the stiffest competition. He won’t participate in full-contact drills this spring as he continues to recover from a torn ACL sustained in August.
The competition between Lewis and Shrout is brand new this year, though, since much of Colorado’s offensive staff has been turned over. Only running backs coach Darian Hagan returned. New quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford will play a major part in deciding the winner. He also brings a new offense, which Dorrell, Lewis and Shrout all praised on Wednesday.
“I actually—I knew where to go with the ball in certain coverages and stuff,” Lewis said. “It’s a bit of a change. Like JT said, there’s more emphasis on the quarterback to check plays off certain looks and stuff like that but it hasn’t been too hard. It’s been really, really fun.”
Lewis started all 12 games in his freshman campaign but the results were less than stellar. Colorado’s passing offense ranked among the bottom in the country in most statistics. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Lewis isn’t running from his first season though.
“I took everything I learned after the season and just tried to work on it on my own, with my buddies so I can improve for spring ball and in fall camp,” Lewis said. “I still watch those games to this day; seeing what I did wrong, what I could do better when we’re back on the field.”
In particular, Lewis wants to work on getting the ball out faster and giving his playmakers more opportunities instead of throwing balls in the dirt or out of bounds.
But where he sees areas to improve upon, some fans see flaws. And he’s heard what they say.
“There’s always outside noise; we call them Twitter quarterbacks,” Lewis said. “But I’m the one playing. I know what to do. They don’t. So I don’t really let it get to me too much. But I use it as motivation to come back and do what I do so I can shut their mouth a little bit.”
According to Dorrell, Lewis has made the first step toward shutting those mouths.
“B-Lew looks like a different player right now,” Dorrell said.
