ATLANTA – On a southern night stickier than a cockroach stuck in a molasses trap, CU quarterback Julian Lewis was a hot mess.

Until it mattered the most.

“He didn’t shrink in the moment,” Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders said Thursday. “He stood up and did his thing.”

Standing shoulder to shoulder with his CU teammates, Bad JuJu transformed into a miracle man during one of the more rousing fourth-quarter comebacks in recent CU history, leading a make-or-break touchdown drive to beat Georgia Tech 14-13.

Coach Prime was proud Lewis came up big when it mattered most, because he knew the critics were ready to pounce and JuJu “would’ve gotten eaten alive if he hadn’t.”

For three-plus quarters, Lewis looked more like an overmatched, skinny kid than the big man on the CU campus.

Then, when all looked lost for the Buffs, Lewis led a 75-yard touchdown drive on the hostile turf of Bobby Dodd Stadium, with the last masterstroke a 20-yard strike to tight end Charlie Williams  with only 42 seconds remaining in the final period.

“We knew we were going to score,” Lewis said, citing unwavering confidence in his teammates and coaches. “We trust each other. We work for it. We knew what was going to happen. I mean, God did it for us.”

It was considered a major get for Coach Prime, when Lewis reneged in late 2024 on his commitment to USC to join the Buffs.

Remember the hullabaloo? Lewis announced his decision live on the “Pat McAfee Show.” He was immediately crowned the heir apparent to Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son and current NFL quarterback with the Cleveland Browns.

In an era when it’s tough to be a dominant team without a dominant quarterback, it’s all about Lewis now. And the Buffs simply cannot afford for JuJu to be much ado about nothing.

Yes, Lewis is still only 18 years old. He played sparingly as a freshman last season, after CU’s season was already in the tank, in no small part because the Buffs made a major personnel mistake by spending heavily to attract quarterback Kaidon Salter in the transfer portal.

But in the era of name, image and likeness, Lewis isn’t a kid.

He’s a handsomely paid professional.

You get the big bucks, you’ve got to produce.

In his return to Georgia, where Lewis was a star at prep powerhouse Carrollton High School, Lewis often looked lost. Skittish in the pocket. Off the mark with medium throws. Reduced to dinking and dunking. A bad case of fumble-itis.

If you want to make excuses for Lewis, be my guest. The Buffs, however, have set him up to soar, not flop.

Sanders made one of his smarter hires to a coaching staff that too often has resembled a bunch of bros clowning each other in the barber shop, when the Buffs brought in Brennan Marion to coordinate his GoGo offense.

Marion’s influence has been immediate. A Buffs running attack that ranked dead last in the entire country during the 2023 and 2024 seasons now appears it might have a hammer. His name is Micah Welch. He accounted for all 35 yards on a touchdown drive in the second quarter when CU took advantage of excellent field position to take a 7-0 lead.

“When the passing game is not working,” Coach Prime said, “you’ve got to go with what you know.”

Why Sanders decided against reaching into his toolbox for the Welch hammer in a fourth-and-goal situation from the 3-yard line during the opening period defies logic. 

In addition to Welch and fellow running back Damian Henderson, who isn’t too shabby himself, the Buffs targeted their money and efforts in the portal this past offseason on giving Lewis weapons in the passing game.

But against the Yellow Jackets the transfers of Danny Scudero (from San Jose State), DeAndre Moore (from Texas) and Kam Perry (from Miami-Ohio) were meh. At best.

Maybe the humidity turned the fingers of Colorado receivers to butter. There were drops. Marion, however, showed little confidence in Lewis accurately pushing the football down the field.

The CU defense was as immovable as a boulder. The Buffs made Georgia Tech quarterback Alberto Mendoza look like a very weak imitation of his older brother, who won the Heisman Trophy last season while leading Indiana to the national championship. 

On a truly wretched night for Colorado special teams until Boo Carter blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt by Aidan Birr at the buzzer to preserve the victory, the Yellow Jackets’ lone touchdown was a 100-yard kickoff return by Rahkeem Smith.

The final stat line for Lewis would’ve been hard to look at if CU had lost. He completed 14 of 27 passes for a meager 124 yards, even with his comeback heroics.

Whether the Buffs have the quarterback who can lead the program back to glory? That’s still open to debate.

Lewis, however, saved himself, his teammates and his coach from a quarterback controversy after only one week of a crucial season for the CU program.

And Coach Prime knows it.

“One thing I don’t do,” Sanders said, “is lie. I tell you the truth, whether you put a suit on it or not.”