Colorado football opened Deion Sanders' fourth season in Boulder with a white-knuckle 14-13 victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday night, as quarterback Julian Lewis hit tight end Charlie Williams for a 20-yard touchdown with 42 seconds remaining and Boo Carter blocked a 45-yard field goal on the final play to preserve a season-opening win at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The Buffaloes trailed for most of the second half and produced just 124 passing yards, but Lewis came alive in the final two minutes to deliver the go-ahead score in just his third career start. A sellout crowd of 51,913 braved 74% humidity in Atlanta to watch the comeback unfold.
How Colorado's Last-Minute Comeback Came Together
For 58 minutes, nothing came easy for the Buffaloes' offense. Georgia Tech controlled the line of scrimmage and built a 13-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter, seemingly poised to hand Coach Prime a season-opening loss.
Then Lewis, who completed just six passes for 41 yards in the first half, found a rhythm. He led a 17-play, 61-yard drive that took 9:07 off the clock and reached the red zone before Georgia Tech's 6-foot-9 tight end Kevin Roche Jr. blocked a Colorado field goal attempt. The Yellow Jackets answered with a field goal to go up 13-7, but the long march had given Colorado's offense something it had lacked all night: belief.
Lewis capped the ensuing two-minute drill with a 20-yard strike to Williams for the lead, finishing 14-of-27 for 124 yards and a touchdown with about 60 of those yards coming on the final drive.
Timeline: The Final Minutes That Decided Colorado-Georgia Tech
The quarter-by-quarter box score - Colorado 0-7-0-7, Georgia Tech 0-10-0-3 - shows a defensive slugfest. Here is how the night unfolded.
- Second quarter: Micah Welch's 5-yard touchdown run put Colorado up 7-0, but Rahkeem Smith answered 14 seconds later with a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown, Georgia Tech's first since Jahmyr Gibbs in 2021. A late field goal sent the Yellow Jackets into halftime up 10-7.
- Fourth quarter: A Georgia Tech field goal extended the lead to 13-7 after Roche blocked Colorado's attempt.
- 42 seconds left: Lewis found Williams for the go-ahead touchdown, making it 14-13.
- Final play: Alberto Mendoza's 42-yard completion to Dalen Penson set up Aidan Birr's 45-yard field goal try, but Carter blocked it and the Buffaloes stormed the field.
Why the Win Matters: Coach Prime's Halftime Challenge
Sanders said his team never lost hope while trailing, and he challenged his young quarterback directly at the break.
"If you'd know how many linemen grabbed me and said 'I told y'all we got this, I told you we got this coach,'" Sanders said. "I mean you have no idea how many times I was shaken by a lineman and told that we got this, and I never doubted it."
He added: "I talked to him at halftime in front of the whole team... I told (Lewis) 'Let's go. Be that man. We believe in you. Let's go.' You know, I challenged him in front of the whole team. He took advantage of the moment."
The win echoed Colorado's last 1-0 start, in 2023, when Shedeur Sanders led a late drive to beat TCU 45-42 in Coach Prime's debut. It also showcased a ground game the program has lacked: after seven straight seasons without a 1,000-yard rusher, Welch (58 yards, one touchdown) and Damian Henderson II (65 yards) combined for 123 of Colorado's 183 rushing yards.
Georgia Tech got a promising debut from quarterback Alberto Mendoza, who completed 17 of 23 passes for 237 yards and scrambled away from pressure for a 22-yard dart to Jordan Allen. But three first-half fumbles, one lost, and the blocked final field goal kept the Yellow Jackets from closing the door.
Where Things Stand: Colorado 1-0, Georgia Tech 0-1
Colorado (1-0) sits at the top of the early Big 12 standings, while Georgia Tech football begins its season 0-1 despite outgaining the Buffaloes through the air, 237 yards to 124.
The result gives Sanders momentum entering a softer stretch of the schedule and validates a roster built around Lewis and a two-headed rushing attack in Welch and Henderson.
What's Next for the Buffaloes and Yellow Jackets
Colorado hosts Weber State on Sept. 12, a game the Buffaloes should be heavily favored to win as they chase a 2-0 start. Georgia Tech faces a much stiffer test, hosting No. 20 Tennessee the same day at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
If Lewis builds on his late-game poise and the running game keeps producing, Colorado could carry real momentum into Big 12 play. For Georgia Tech, the margin for error is thin with a ranked opponent up next.
The Bottom Line: Key Takeaways
- Julian Lewis threw the go-ahead 20-yard touchdown to Charlie Williams with 42 seconds left in his third career start.
- Boo Carter blocked a 45-yard field goal on the final play to seal a 14-13 Colorado win.
- It was Colorado's first 1-0 start since Deion Sanders' 2023 debut.
- Rahkeem Smith's 100-yard kickoff return TD was Georgia Tech's first since 2021.
- Colorado hosts Weber State next; Georgia Tech welcomes No. 20 Tennessee.
