"This kid is just 17": Coach Prime breaks silence on keeping Julian Lewis benched despite Kaidon Salter's Georgia Tech blunders

After an intense battle with cancerous bladder, Deion Sanders was back on the field calling plays for Colorado from the sidelines last week. It was expected that he would win the season opener, especially with a young team and plenty of new faces. But unfortunate clock management and a rusty defense became the reason for Colorado's 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech in Week 1.

Despite the result, Coach Prime appeared unfazed in his recent interaction with CBS at Boulder. He shared his insights on the team's expectations and what went wrong last week. Sanders also pondered upon the decision to keep five-star prospect Julian Lewis benched despite seeing Kaidon Salter struggle with his run game.

The matchup was a close one, especially till the fourth quarter but Georgia Tech managed to sustain their lead. When asked about Colorado’s defense, Prime mentioned that he was encouraged with how the players played, adding, however, that there were a lot of things to be improved.

“They exceeded expectations. They ran the ball down and we could stop it. And that's not indicative to who we are. We knew what was going to happen. We expected what was going to happen. We just needed to man up and stop what tremendously happened. I'm encouraged. Not satisfied,” Sanders said to CBS on Thursday. [Timestamp: 3:00]

He also mentioned that Lewis is acclimatizing to the college environment, especially when the stadium has a sellout crowd. He needed at least a game to settle himself and the coming week, fans will get to see him throw.

“I gotta protect this kid. This kid is just 17. I gotta really make sure he's successful. You can't throw him out there. Then the next thing you guys out there watching are eating him alive on social media, like he's never been through that. So I gotta make sure I protect this kid as well as make sure he's ready,” Sanders added.

Deion Sanders and Colorado has a moderate schedule in 2025

After the Week 1 loss, it is essential that the Buffs get back to their winning ways if they aspire to make the playoffs. Regardless of how well Deion Sanders defends the strength of the 2025 roster, it has degraded to a significant extent with Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders’ departure to the NFL.

Colorado will play Delaware in Week 2, followed by an exciting game against Houston on Sept 12. Wyoming, BYU, TCU and Iowa State will play Colorado back-to-back from Week 4.

The Buffs wrap up their 2025 season with a big matchup against Kansas State. Expect a 9+ winning game season from Deion Sanders and Colorado this year.