Colorado’s starting quarterback for Week 1 against Georgia Tech has been decided.
Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders said Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter would be the starter on Friday night against the Yellow Jackets and that he hoped five-star freshman JuJu Lewis would also be able to see some playing time.
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“We’ve got two guys who are capable of getting the job done,” Sanders said at his news conference on Tuesday. “Kaidon Salter’s gonna start … the kid has a ton of experience, dual-threat, can throw the heck out of the ball as well. He’s the guy. He’s the guy at this point. We’re praying and we’re hoping that you see some JuJu periodically through the game as well. We would like to get him some reps as well. But the game predicates that.”
The two QBs were competing to replace Shedeur Sanders as the Buffaloes’ starter. Salter transferred after the 2024 season and has one season of eligibility remaining. Lewis enrolled early at Colorado and was on the sidelines for the team’s Alamo Bowl loss to BYU.
Salter’s best season came in 2023 when he had 44 total touchdowns as Liberty went undefeated before losing to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. Salter was 177-of-290 passing for 2,876 yards and threw 32 TDs while rushing 169 times for 1,089 yards and 12 TDs.
He briefly entered the transfer portal after that season before choosing to stay at Liberty in 2024. As the Flames didn’t win Conference USA in what was a down year for the program, Salter didn’t play as well either. He was 147-of-261 passing for 1,886 yards and 15 TDs while rushing for 579 yards and seven scores.
