Freshman Julian Lewis has gone from silent observer to the loudest presence in the room since being named QB1. His breakout performance against West Virginia convinced Colorado insider Uncle Neely that the freshman has stepped fully into the role of the guy.

“Probably a month ago, I don’t know how many people on the team even knew Juju’s voice,” said The Pregame Show host during Friday’s appearance on DNVR Buffs. “You know, he was just a party on the phone. You like, ‘oh, this Juju,’ because he wasn’t that a vocal guy in the locker room, in the team meeting room, or what have you.” But that was the old version of Lewis. Ever since Deion Sanders handed him the starting role, he’s no longer the same.

“But since taking this position, you really see the guy who was all that in the bag of chips in Georgia football. You know, he’s coming out of that freshman shell and ready to lead the team.”

The West Virginia game was the proof in real time. When a WVU defender grabbed a handful of Lewis’ hair and dragged him backward nine yards, the freshman didn’t flinch. He still completed the night 22-for-35 with 299 yards. And the response didn’t stop when the whistle blew. Lewis promised that next week he’ll come with his hair braided to take away defender’s leverage point.

Beyond the composure and stats, he knows how to lead a team.

“He (Julian Lewis) has that intangible that he makes other guys want to play with him, and want to compete as such,” said the Colorado HC on Wednesday. “Now they (receivers) know, if I get a step, that ball is gonna be there.”

While Lewis finished his first college start with 3 completions over 30 yards, WRs Joseph Williams and Omarion Miller each caught a TD against West Virginia. Now with Lewis’s growth, they should be key for the starting QB to find success against the Sun Devils.

Here, Deion Sanders acknowledged Lewis’ growth and laid out the expectations for him. “Some of the mistakes you made, we don’t expect you to make those again because now you understand what we want,” said Sanders earlier this week. “You got game action, you got live action. You understand where the blitz is coming from, what they’re going to do to you. We got packages for that. We got things implemented in those calls.”

But just as everything seemed ready for the ASU matchup, the Deion Sanders era hit a roadblock.

Colorado could have the lowest attendance on game day

Since “Prime Time” arrived, Boulder’s energy had become electric. Folsom Field has earned its spot among The Athletic’s top 20 game-day environments in CFB, and for good reason. Even after a rocky start and blowout loss at Utah, the sellout crowd showed that the passion was still there. With 48,322 tickets reportedly sold for homecoming against the Wildcats, Buff Nation showed up in full force.

With 60-degree weather and sunshine, Folsom Field looked close to full by kickoff, as earlier this month, Colorado beat writer Brian Howell reported ticket sales were “going strong.” But the scenario seems to flip, with a huge gap already showing in ticket sales.

As Howell reported on Friday, “Colorado has sold about 40,000 tickets for Saturday’s game against Arizona State, which means it will surely be the lowest attendance of the Coach Prime era.” Yes, compared to the attendance on November 1, the crowd for the game against ASU is quite low. Even when Deion’s era kicked off at Folsom Field against Nebraska in 2023, the stadium shook with 53,241 fans.

But what stood out? The clash with Wyoming drew 53,442, setting the high mark of this season. Still, with attendance lower, winning is the focus for Colorado.