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The Tennessee transfer wowed the crowd before halftime at Folsom Field, leaving us wanting more.
If the Colorado Buffaloes learned anything from Friday night’s 38-13 dismantling at the hands of TCU, it was they have a clear-cut No. 1 QB.
But no one outside the program know if Karl Dorrell and new OC Mike Sanford recognize it?
Tennessee transfer quarterback JT Shrout made his long-awaited debut and showed some intriguing arm strength in the process. While the Buffs alternated between last year’s starter Brendon Lewis and Shrout throughout the game, there wasn’t much comparison between the two. Lewis struggle to move the ball effectively and Shrout aired it out and moved the ball for a bit.
Shrout finished 13-of-23 for 157 yards with a late touchdown to Jordyn Tyson.
Lewis did show improvement from last season. He hung in there with grit and showed flashes of his running ability. It’s just that Lewis could use a year behind Shrout to learn and develop. The former Vols QB, who returned after suffering a knee injury, looked to be much-improved with better mechanics.
In 14 career games, Lewis has thrown for over 200 yards twice, and less than 100 yards seven times, including last Friday vs. TCU. He has nine career games without a touchdown pass and only three rushing scores. He’s taken care of the ball with just three INT’s during the span of 285 passing attempts.
Shrout completed 37-of-69 attempts for 494 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions during his eight games at Tennessee.
“We do have a plan,” Dorrell said at Monday’s press conference. “We talked about and worked through it. We will not discuss that plan today with you guys but we do have a plan moving forward. We know that both of those guys still need a lot of work. They both had issues in the game. But we do have a plan in place.”
Starting Shrout could be the difference between the Buffs fighting for bowl eligibility or struggling to find many wins.
Colorado faces in-state rival Air Force on Saturday. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years the Buffs will play at the Academy and hit the road as 17.5 point underdogs.
by Jeff Hauser
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