Colorado opened its season with a one-point escape in Atlanta, beating Georgia Tech 14-13 on Thursday night after Julian Lewis found Charlie Williams for a 20-yard touchdown with 42 seconds left. The Buffaloes then survived the last reply when Boo Carter blocked Aidan Birr’s 45-yard field-goal try.
The win gave Colorado its first 1-0 start since 2023, when it also opened 1-0, and it came after a night that kept swinging from one side to the other. Micah Welch put Colorado ahead 7-0 on a 5-yard run in the second quarter, Rahkeem Smith answered 14 seconds later with a 100-yard kickoff return, and Georgia Tech later moved in front 13-7 before Lewis finished the job.
That final drive was the turn Colorado needed from a quarterback who had been mostly held in check. Lewis had only six completions for 41 yards at halftime, but he finished 14-of-27 for 124 yards and the touchdown that decided the game. Colorado went 17 plays and 61 yards in 9:07 to set up the winning strike, a sequence that had to be exact because Georgia Tech had already dragged the game into field-goal range and was one kick from taking the lead.
There was no clean path through the first half. Georgia Tech put the ball on the ground three times before halftime and lost one of those fumbles, and the game had the kind of stop-start feel that can come with opening-night nerves. The crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium — 51,913 for a third consecutive sell-out — watched Colorado’s offense find just enough rhythm late, while Georgia Tech’s own chance to steal it died on the block by Carter.
Deion Sanders said the line kept pulling him aside and telling him they had it, and Lewis backed that belief when the game was on the line. Alberto Mendoza finished 17-of-23 for 237 yards and was sacked three times for a loss of 22 yards, but Colorado’s night belonged to the quarterback who changed his numbers when the pressure peaked. Georgia Tech now turns to No. 20 Tennessee on Sept. 12, while Colorado leaves with the kind of opener that can steady a season before it has really started.
