Julian Lewis met the moment.

In his first career start, the true freshman quarterback proved why he’s the future of the Colorado football team. It was a slow start but Julian Lewis settled in to have an excellent day.

Here are three takeaways from Colorado’s 29-22 loss to West Virginia:

Julian Lewis shines in first start

If you watched Julian Lewis play on Saturday vs. West Virginia, you might be wondering why he wasn’t playing earlier in the season.

The true freshman settled in after a rough start and showed why he was such a highly-touted recruit. Colorado had just 10 yards of total offense and one first down in the first quarter.

Julian Lewis found a rhythm in the second quarter, though, leading a 77-yard scoring in 45 seconds just before the half. He capped it off with a nine-yard TD pass to Joseph Williams.

Julian Lewis threw his second TD of the day in the third quarter, connecting with Omarion Miller for a 23-yard score. The connection between Lewis and Miller was immediately on display last week vs. Arizona and that carried into Saturday. Miller finished the game with 131 yards and a TD on six catches.

In his first career start, Julian Lewis completed 63% of his passes for 299 yards and two TDs. What makes his performance even more impressive is that the Buffs were without both of their starting tackles (Jordan Seaton and Larry Johnson III). Lewis was sacked seven times but dealt with the pressure well for a true freshman.

The future of the Colorado football team is bright with Julian Lewis leading the way.

Brett Bartolone opens up offense

Deion Sanders recently pushed a major button. He stripped offensive play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and handed them over to tight ends coach/passing game coordinator Brett Bartolone ahead of the Arizona game.

It was difficult to identify the change during last week’s loss, but Bartolone’s fingerprints appeared to be all over Saturday’s game plan. The Buffs used their downfield passing game much more vs. West Virginia which allowed Omarion Miller (131 yards on six catches) and Joseph Williams (64 yards on three catches) to stretch the field.

Julian Lewis is such a talented, natural passer who has elite ball placement. Deep shots should be a staple of this offense, especially with these receivers, and Bartolone made sure to feature that on Saturday. He has a good case to become the Colorado football team’s full-time offensive coordinator next season.

Colorado’s defense forces three turnovers

Turnovers gave Julian Lewis and the Colorado offense extra opportunities.

Brandon Davis-Swain forced a fumble that was recovered by Ben Finneseth. Preston Hodge and John Slaughter intercepted West Virginia QB Scotty Fox Jr. Those three turnovers led to just seven points for the Buffs, though. Those missed opportunities were the difference in the game. If Colorado was able to capitalize on them, Julian Lewis would be 1-0 as a starter.

Jeremiah Brown had a game-high 11 tackles and Tawfiq Byard had seven tackles after the missing the first half due to a targeting penalty from last week. The Buffs (3-7) head into their second bye week of the year before ending the season vs. Arizona State and at Kansas State.

Follow Colorado Buffaloes beat reporter Scott Procter on X.