At this point, Deion Sanders looks desperate enough to try just about anything to get Colorado’s offense moving again. Julian Lewis was benched at halftime against Baylor after completing 11 of 16 passes for just 75 yards, no touchdowns, and taking three sacks, which is hardly the kind of production that buys a quarterback much patience when the offense is already sputtering.
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Colorado has reached the point where potential is nice, but points would be nicer. The Buffs need something to change, and Sanders appears willing to make the uncomfortable move at quarterback to force it. That is why Isaac Wilson has suddenly become a serious threat to take over against Texas Tech after four games with Lewis as the starter. Sanders did not exactly hide the reasoning either. His message was simple: the offense has to score, and if Lewis cannot get it there, somebody else is going to get a shot.
“We gotta score, man. We gotta score,” Deion Sanders said on BuffsTV. “That’s the whole thing. That’s the whole thing. It’s not about feelings or emotions or anything but that.”
Colorado has dropped two straight after a 2-0 start and scored just 34 points across three games against FBS opponents. With Big 12 play already turning unforgiving, Sanders cannot afford to wait much longer for the offense to click. That is why Isaac Wilson is now firmly in the quarterback conversation. Sanders, however, made one thing clear: this was not a reaction to one bad half.
“It’s not an in-the-moment change,” he said. “That’s obviously when you’ve sat down with the coaches, you’ve sat down with the quarterbacks. They know the deal. They know the timing. It’s not that you are just doing that blindly. Everyone involved in the house knows what time it is. Maybe everybody outside knows.”
Julian Lewis’ numbers, at first glance, do not scream disaster. The young QB has completed 64.2% of his passes for 733 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. But those numbers are heavily helped by his performance against Weber State, when he threw for 366 yards and four scores. Against FBS opponents, the picture gets rougher.
Julian Lewis has managed only 365 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions across Colorado’s three games against FBS teams. The Buffs scored just 34 points in those contests. That is the number Deion Sanders appears to care about most, not feelings or reputation.
“I’m not emotional,” he said. “I don’t make decisions based on emotions.”
Isaac Wilson now gets the opportunity to change that equation. The younger brother of former BYU star and NFL QB Zach Wilson, he arrived at Colorado after spending two seasons at Utah. His college career has been uneven, though. He went 2-5 as a starter and completed 56.4% of his passes for 1,510 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions during his time with the Utes.
So this is hardly a case of replacing Julian Lewis with some established superstar. Isaac Wilson still has plenty to prove himself. But he showed Deion Sanders something last week.
After Julian Lewis struggled against Baylor, Isaac Wilson entered the game and gave Colorado a little life. He finished 12-of-25 for 156 yards and a touchdown in the 23-13 loss. Colorado scored 10 points after halftime, matching the Buffs’ combined output from their previous six quarters. Maybe that didn’t win anyone a game. It did, however, create a reason to look again.
Isaac Wilson has appeared in two games for Colorado this season and has thrown for 153 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. And now he gets Texas Tech. That is not a gentle debut. The Red Raiders have won three of their first four games by double digits and arrive at Folsom Field with a defense that will test a QB still trying to establish himself.
Another interesting thing to note is that Colorado beat Texas Tech 41-27 the last time these teams met. But that was during the 2024 season when Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were still on the roster. This is a different Buffs team, and Deion Sanders knows it.
Colorado is 2-2 after losing two straight games. The QB switch does not magically fix everything but it’ll give the offense another chance to find a pulse. And given Deion Sanders’ objective, Isaac Wilson has to score.