Julian Lewis and Colorado football team earned a season-opening win the hard way.

The Buffs trailed by three at halftime and by six with less than two minutes left. That’s when Colorado QB Julian Lewis did the unthinkable.

Here are three takeaways from the Colorado football team’s 14-13 win over Georgia Tech.

Julian Lewis goes Brady Mode

Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis’ return to his home state of Georgia didn’t go as planned early on. The second-year quarterback completed just 52% of his passes (14-of-27) for 124 yards.

None of that mattered on the final drive, though, as Lewis engineered a 75-yard game-winning drive with less than two minutes left and zero timeouts. He found TE Charlie Williams for the go-ahead TD with 37 seconds left. Boo Carter’s block of a Georgia Tech field goal as time expired sealed it.

After a rough start, it was exactly what Colorado football fans wanted to see from their former five-star QB.

The Colorado football team’s running backs also looked impressive, especially Micah Welch. The third-year RB carried the ball on four consecutive plays early in the second quarter and punched the fourth in for a five-yard TD to give the Buffs a 7-0 lead.

Welch and Damian Henderson II combined to rush for 123 yards on 25 attempts. Jaquail Smith added 42 yards on the ground.

Colorado football’s run defense answers the call

Georgia Tech’s offensive gameplan was simple and predictable. The Colorado football team was up for the challenge.

Georgia Tech RB Justice Haynes, who averaged 122 yards per game last season at Michigan, was held to just 61 yards on 18 attempts (3.4 YPC). The Yellow Jackets finished the game with just 48 rushing yards as a team.

Santana Hopper, Dylan Manuel, Samu Taumanupepe and others were stout on the interior of the Buffs’ defensive line. Lamont Lester Jr. had an eye-opening three sacks in his Colorado football debut and Randon Fontenette had a team-high eight tackles.

If the Buffs can continue to stop the run like they did on Thursday night, they’ll be a bowl-eligible team in 2026.

Lineup shuffling

Chauncey Gooden is part of the reason why the Colorado football team was able to slow down Georgia Tech’s rushing attack. The Buffs’ starting left guard doubled as a nose tackle on Thursday night and made a legitimate impact. It’s an interesting wrinkle to watch throughout the season.

Sean Kinney was a surprise Week 1 starter at center for the Colorado football team. He was replaced by Houston transfer Demetrius Hunter early in the second quarter and the Buffs immediately went on to have their only scoring drive of the night.

Hunter got rolled up on in the fourth quarter and when Kinney re-entered the game, a couple bad snaps doomed a promising drive that featured 15 consecutive run plays. It ended with Georgia Tech blocking a Colorado field goal attempt to tie the game at 1o.

Colorado WR Danny Scudero entered Thursday night as a game-time decision and was involved early (four catches for 12 yards) but didn’t play in the second half.

The Buffs will have to get healthy before their home opener in Week 2 vs. Weber State.

Follow Colorado Buffaloes beat reporter Scott Procter on X.