Julian Lewis stayed on the bench when Colorado came out for the third quarter at Baylor, and Isaac Wilson took the offense 95 yards on 12 plays and hit Joseph Williams for the touchdown that tied it 13-13. Baylor eventually won 23-13, in a Big 12 opener Colorado lost on the road, but the game's lasting development was the switch itself. Deion Sanders pulled Lewis at halftime after a first half of one field goal, four punts, a turnover on downs, three sacks and 75 passing yards.
Sanders did not name a starter afterward. He said Colorado "just needed a change," credited Wilson for how he "calmed down a little bit, got us down the field, did his job," and added, "Don't give up on JuJu... he's not quitting." So the position that was supposed to be settled in August is not. Lewis came back this year off a modest but clean 2025 sample, 52-of-94 for 589 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions across four games, and that track record, plus a new offense built around him, made him the presumptive starter. Four games in, Brennan Marion's offense has taken the ball out of his hands at halftime of a conference game. Marion arrived from Sacramento State, where he lifted a 3-9 team to 7-5 and 33.8 points per game. Whichever quarterback he sends out Saturday night is the clearest statement he has made yet about what he thinks that offense actually is.
Saturday night is the part that makes this uncomfortable rather than merely interesting. Colorado hosts No. 12 Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. MT on FOX, and the game is CU's Homecoming, a black-and-gold stripe-out at Folsom Field tied to the university's 150th anniversary. A first-time starter, or a quarterback taking over on the fly again, gets that environment and a ranked opponent in the same evening. Our model gives Colorado a 7.7% chance to win. Texas Tech should win, and a first-quarter three-and-out will not tell you otherwise. The quarterback play will still be the thing to watch when the scoreboard stops being interesting.
The protection is the reason to be nervous about either quarterback. Colorado's line had its worst day of the season in Waco, with 83 yards on 39 carries, 2.1 a pop, the first time all year the Buffs failed to reach 180 rushing yards, and five sacks allowed. Lewis was hit early and often; Wilson inherited a pocket that was already broken. If the run game stays at two yards a carry, the quarterback question becomes academic, because neither one can do much behind that. The thing worth rooting for is simple and concrete. Micah Welch or Richard Young getting four yards on first down, twice in a row, so Colorado can call something other than a passing down.
The defense is the genuine good news, and it is not small. A week after Northwestern put up 41, Chris Marve's group held DJ Lagway to 49% passing, got Jason Stokes Jr.'s first career interception, a sack and two tackles for loss from Toby Anene, and kept Baylor's run game to 3.3 yards a carry. That is what kept the game tied deep into the fourth quarter and made Wilson's drive matter at all. Baylor had been a 9.5-point favorite and needed a late touchdown and a 54-yard field goal to get clear. Colorado lost by less than the market expected, and it was the defense that bought that.
So the shape of a fun night is clear enough. If the defense repeats the Baylor performance against a better offense, and one of these two quarterbacks operates cleanly for four quarters instead of two, Colorado can make Folsom loud into the fourth quarter against a top-12 team. That is worth showing up for even at 7.7%. The bad version is also easy to picture. The line gives up four sacks, the quarterback carousel turns again, and Homecoming ends early. Either way, by the time the FOX broadcast signs off, Colorado fans will know something real about who is playing quarterback in November.
Full numbers and the week's board are in the interactive guide, and the forecasting details are in the methodology.