Tag: Brendon Lewis

Brendon Lewis one of the top available transfer portal players, per Mike Farrell Sports

Brendon Lewis is the second-best QB in the transfer portal, per Mike Farrell Sports

One year after starting all 12 games for the 2021 Colorado Buffaloes, quarterback Brendon Lewis is now looking for opportunities elsewhere.

The third-year sophomore started CU’s opener against TCU but was soon outplayed by both JT Shrout and new lead man Owen McCown. With Buffs players receiving a 30-day open transfer portal window upon Karl Dorrell’s departure at the beginning of the month, Lewis took advantage on Oct. 18.

Lewis, a former four-star recruit, has all the athletic abilities to be a Power Five starting quarterback, and he could thrive under a better offensive system.

College football writer Mark Pszonak of Mike Farrell Sports even believes that Lewis is currently the second-best quarterback and the eighth-best overall available player in the transfer portal:

Lewis burst onto the scene during an impressive performance at the 2020 Alamo Bowl and then became the full-time starter in Boulder in 2021 before losing his job this fall. During his season as the starter, he passed for 1,540 yards, 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions, while also rushing for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

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Transfer quarterback for Notre Dame: Who’s available and do they fit

Who do you like?

The Irish should have recruited another quarterback during this past offseason but opted not to and it has come back to bite them. With [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] and an extensive injury history and [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] having up-and-down play so far in his career, it makes sense to look elsewhere for a quarterback. Although the season is just about at the midway point, there have been multiple quarterbacks that have already entered the transfer portal and a few of them have even already made their decisions.

Some of this will depend on where the offense goes after the season. Will offensive coordinator [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] still be around? Will [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] add another mind on that side of the ball and add a co-coordinator title. That remains to be seen so let’s take a look at who is currently available and if they are a fit for Notre Dame. (This list will be updated as more quarterbacks enter the portal.)

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Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Former Colorado quarterback Brendon Lewis enters transfer portal

Brendon Lewis has entered the transfer portal

Brendon Lewis, the Colorado Buffaloes’ starting quarterback for the season opener, announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday.

After starting all 12 games last season, Lewis was unable to fully maintain the starting job this year, and here at the halfway mark, he’s now stuck behind JT Shrout and new true freshman starter Owen McCown.

The former four-star recruit out of Texas threw for 1,540 passing yards and 10 touchdowns last season but was unable to eclipse 100 passing yards in his sophomore campaign. His Colorado career also included a strong performance in his college debut in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.

Lewis’ grit was admirable and hopefully, he’s able to find playing time.

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Battle for starting QB job now a three-Buff race

If you have two quarterbacks, you have none. But what if you have three?

Three weeks in and it’s still unclear who the CU Buffs’ starting quarterback is.

To summarize: In Week 1, Brendon Lewis got the start but was outplayed by JT Shrout, who was then rewarded with the start against Air Force. However, Shrout struggled in the Springs and let Lewis re-enter the race heading into Minnesota. Things got really complicated against the Gophers as Karl Dorrell let Lewis and Shrout trade drives. Neither found any success and in what was CU’s final drive, Owen McCown came in and produced a touchdown — albeit against a weaker Minnesota defense that was up 49.

All caught up?

The Buffs are now back in Boulder and Dorrell told the media on Wednesday that Lewis, Shrout and McCown are all getting first-team reps in preparation for UCLA.

Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford was also asked about the situation at QB (h/t BuffZone):

“You go through three games and you don’t have the ability to fully, clearly name a starting quarterback based off the information that we had from spring ball and fall camp,” Sanford said. “Really, the information never truly clarified itself and that’s just a reality. You could go back and forth and say that you’d want to make one guy the guy and just live with it, but that was a challenging proposition from the standpoint that nobody had truly stood out as the sole starter”

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How social media has reacted to Colorado’s quarterback situation

Colorado fans haven’t been afraid to share their opinion on who should start at QB

After waiting all of fall camp for Karl Dorrell to announce a winner of the starting quarterback competition between Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout, Colorado’s third-year head coach decided there would be no victor. Instead, he’s expected to give both of his QBs time for the second consecutive week, and Buffs fans aren’t exactly thrilled.

Those who bleed black and gold have reason to be confused, though, as Shrout outperformed Lewis by most metrics against TCU — Shrout’s QB rating was about 20 points higher than Lewis’s. Neither QB played particularly strong, especially in the second half, but Colorado’s offense did seem to flow better with Shrout under center.

Here’s how the messy world of Twitter has reacted to Colorado’s quarterback situation:

Karl Dorrell staying hush on Colorado’s QB plan for Air Force

Karl Dorrell is staying quiet on who his starting quarterback will be against Air Force

Just like in Week 1, Karl Dorrell is staying quiet on Colorado’s starting quarterback for Week 2. Brendon Lewis was the pick against TCU, but there’s little doubt that JT Shrout performed better during his time in the second and fourth quarters. It’s just not clear if Dorrell agrees.

After the game on Friday, Dorrell didn’t seem overly found on how both Lewis and Shrout performed, citing that Shrout, in particular, was leaving the pocket too early.

Dorrell rejoined the media on Monday to preview the Air Force game and he reiterated that both of his potential starters “need a lot of work.” Unless Dorrell changes his mind, chances are we’ll find out who’s starting at QB on Saturday.

Having a plan is good, although one could argue that Dorrell stuck to whatever plan he had against TCU much too rigidly. Adjustments, and hopefully some more Shrout, are going to be key.

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CU Buffs staying quiet on starting QB until game time

We’ll find out on Friday who’s starting at QB

At this point, nobody outside the team knows who the QB1 is for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Some signs have hinted at incumbent Brendon Lewis taking the job, and Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner also pegged Lewis as the starter.

But, JT Shrout has been impressive so far, and head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff had a difficult decision to make.

With the season opener against TCU less than a week away, a decision has been made, although we won’t know until kickoff (h/t Nikki Edwards of Rivals).

“We did talk to both of them and they know what our game plan is in terms of who’s starting, but I think it’s wise for us to not do that announcement at all,”

However, Dorrell did say some more interesting comments that hint that Lewis is in front of the race.

“[The competition] was kind of like that, it was very close. Not enough to unseat B-Lew, but it just gave us the impression now we feel good that they kind of feed off of each other and that’s why we’re trying to leave our options open with both of those guys. They understand what we’re trying to do from a game plan standpoint. Just like I told them, they’re both going to play.”

So, is Lewis QB1? Or is Shrout going to take the job? Who knows.

The Horned Frogs also have a similar situation and could play THREE different quarterbacks against the Buffs.

For now, Dorrell isn’t tipping his hand. Then again, there might not be anything to tip off at all. It doesn’t seem like one player has run away with the spot, so we could see a two-quarterback system running Mike Sanford’s offense until one establishes himself as the starter.

Sit back and enjoy.

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Karl Dorrell and Mike Sanford still discussing pick for starting QB

The QB competition remains close with opening night less than 10 days away

Head coach Karl Dorrell joined the media and a few other college coaches across the state on Wednesday for the third annual Front Range Huddle, hosted by the Blake Street Tavern in Denver.

Unsurprisingly, the first topic Dorrell was asked to discuss was Colorado’s starting quarterback competition between Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout.

Dorrell’s update was simply that he and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford are still seeing which QB checks more boxes.

“Mike and I have talked a lot about it the last few days, it’s really hard,” Dorrell said. “But the thing that we’ve come to a great conclusion about is that there’s not a player on the offense who’s not totally confident in either one of these guys,”

Dorrell also shared some insight on what this fall camp has been like for both Lewis and Shrout.

“They both get the same amount of reps, so it’s not like it’s a tremendously different feel,” Dorrell said. “The things that I think they both have done well was, for example, Brendon made up a lot of ground from what he did last year. He’s done a lot of studying time, he really watched himself (and) really made a lot of changes to the things that he saw that he was doing poorly. It was good to see for him to recognize those things, and he kind of had the offseason that he had that had a good spring and got to this point. I think with JT, his challenge was really accomplishing milestones or accomplishing checklists of, ‘okay, can I be elusive enough in the pocket to (avoid) a rush? Yeah, I can do that.’ So he checks that. ‘Can I run with the ball?’ Because that’s part of our offense is that position running with the ball, and he was able to do that.”

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Jon Wilner predicts Brendon Lewis to be the CU Buffs starting QB

Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner is confident that Brendon Lewis will maintain his starting role

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback competition is a good one. Both Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout have looked the part of a starting quarterback.

Lewis has the advantage after running the show last season, although Mike Sanford’s offense is quite different than the 2021 version the Buffs displayed.

Shrout, the transfer from Tennessee, is healthy and ready to roll, which is making the decision difficult for head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff.

In a deep dive preview of Colorado football, Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner predicted Lewis as the starting QB.

But, Wilner has one big question regarding the position:

The Buffaloes have playmakers in the passing game, but will Lewis (or JT Shrout) consistently deliver the ball on time and on target to revitalize what was a subpar offense?

There is a possibility that both Lewis and Shrout rotate a little bit, and if Lewis struggles, then Dorrell might roll with Shrout until something changes. Nobody knows.

But, for now, we’ll just have to wait and see who’s the QB for the season opener against TCU on Sept. 3. For what it’s worth, Wilner is one of the best Pac-12 insiders there is (he dropped the USC-UCLA Big Ten bombshell), so this is good news for the Lewis camp.

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The last 30 opening day starting quarterbacks for Colorado

Every opening day starting quarterback at Colorado over the last 30 years

As we hit 13 days until the 2022 football season begins for the Colorado Buffaloes, it seemed a good time to take a page out of our friends (enemies?) book over at Huskers Wire.

The Buffs have a rich tradition when it comes to the men who have led the team from the most important position in all of football, the quarterback. Colorado has had QBs who’ve relied on their feet to make plays, some who’ve had the arm talent to pick apart defenses from the pocket and a few who were deadly with both.

Let’s highlight every opening day starting quarterback at Colorado over the last 30 years: