Georgia's Buffs Bring One Home
September 04, 2026 | Football
ATLANTA — Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders let the Georgia natives break down practice on Wednesday. He wasn't sure of the count.
"I think we at least 20 guys, right?" he asked from the podium late Thursday night, after Colorado's 14-13 win over Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Seventeen, he was told.
"Just ride with me," Coach Prime said. "Just say 20, man. Close enough."
The number that mattered was two — as in two touchdowns, both scored by Georgia natives.
Julian Lewis, the second-year quarterback from Carrollton, threw the winning one to Charlie Williams with 37 seconds left. Micah Welch, the third-year running back from Milledgeville, ran in the other and led the Buffs' 183-yard ground game with 13 carries for 58 yards. In a stadium that drew 52,113 — a crowd that, per the room's count, was the building's first sellout in a season opener since 2006 — a roster with 17 Georgians got to do it in front of family.
"I'm thankful, especially him being at the crib, at home," Coach Prime said of Lewis. "I'm loving that."
It did not start that way for the quarterback. Through three quarters Lewis was 10-of-21 for 64 yards, and the Buffs were staring at a 10-7 deficit that had lasted from the middle of the second quarter through the scoreless third quarter. Coach Prime addressed it at halftime — not in a hallway, but in front of the whole team.
"I addressed him in front of the whole team," Coach Prime said. "I tell them — the whole team — let's go. You that man. We believe in you. Let's go. And I challenged him in front of the whole team, and he went and did his thing."
He was direct about what the alternative would have been.
"Well, I'm glad he did, because you guys would have been eating him alive if he hadn't," he said. "That's the truth. The kid is still young, man. He's still growing. That's why I don't get up here and clap with my feet and my hands, because I want you guys to give him time, man. Let it happen."
The situation was one the staff had rehearsed. Colorado burned all three timeouts on Georgia Tech's field goal drive, trying to save clock, and got the ball back at its own 25 with 1:40 left and none remaining, down 13-7. Coach Prime said he had walked Lewis and offensive coordinator Brennan Marion through exactly that scenario before the drive.
"I said, 'Look, I'm getting ready to use every one of these timeouts,'" Coach Prime said. "'You're probably gonna have a minute-something left on the clock. Go to work, because we're not gonna have a timeout. So they're not gonna be up, because they don't want to get beat deep. So we gonna have a chance to catch and get out of bounds.'"
Lewis went 4-of-6 on the drive: 17 yards to DeKalon Taylor on the first snap, 16 to Joseph Williams on third-and-11 after a sack, seven more to Williams, and then, after Taylor converted a third-and-3 with a 16-yard run, a 20-yard touchdown to Charlie Williams. Eight plays, 75 yards, 1:03.
"He dialed the correct play, and Juju made the throw, man," Coach Prime said Marion's call. "I'm proud of him."
Asked what the drive said about Lewis, Coach Prime kept coming back to one word.
"He reacts like a kid would react," he said. "He's very respectful. He's very intuitive, understanding, and he understands the moment. He understands the moment."
"He took advantage of the moment; he didn't shrink in it."
Welch's moment came earlier and quieter. His 5-yard touchdown at 13:06 of the second quarter capped a five-play, 35-yard drive on which he carried all five times — 11, 15, 4 and 5 yards, plus the score — and it was the last time the Buffs led until the final minute. It came a season after he had every reason to leave.
"Micah's a dawg, man," Coach Prime said. "They try to run my boy up out of here, and he wasn't having it. He wasn't having it. Listen to me clearly: He wasn't having it. He wasn't about to go. He wasn't about to jump in the portal. He wasn't about to leave. He's like, 'I know who I am. Watch this.' And at every turn, he came and did the doggone thing, and we know what he has."
They were not the only ones. Four Georgians started: Lewis, Welch, Bo Hughley of Fairburn on the offensive line that cleared the way for 183 yards, and Dylan Manuel of Stockbridge, who had two tackles and a tackle for loss in a front that held Georgia Tech to 51 yards on 30 carries. RJ Johnson of McDonough and Kam Perry of Marietta also played.
Coach Prime had spent game week insisting the trip carried no nostalgia for him, and on Thursday he held the line — at least on the ranking.
"I don't rank moments, man," he said. "I don't rank moments. I try to turn them into monuments. That's all I do."
Someone in the room suggested this was a big one.
"Amen," Coach Prime said. "God is good."
"I think we at least 20 guys, right?" he asked from the podium late Thursday night, after Colorado's 14-13 win over Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Seventeen, he was told.
"Just ride with me," Coach Prime said. "Just say 20, man. Close enough."
The number that mattered was two — as in two touchdowns, both scored by Georgia natives.
Julian Lewis, the second-year quarterback from Carrollton, threw the winning one to Charlie Williams with 37 seconds left. Micah Welch, the third-year running back from Milledgeville, ran in the other and led the Buffs' 183-yard ground game with 13 carries for 58 yards. In a stadium that drew 52,113 — a crowd that, per the room's count, was the building's first sellout in a season opener since 2006 — a roster with 17 Georgians got to do it in front of family.
"I'm thankful, especially him being at the crib, at home," Coach Prime said of Lewis. "I'm loving that."
It did not start that way for the quarterback. Through three quarters Lewis was 10-of-21 for 64 yards, and the Buffs were staring at a 10-7 deficit that had lasted from the middle of the second quarter through the scoreless third quarter. Coach Prime addressed it at halftime — not in a hallway, but in front of the whole team.
"I addressed him in front of the whole team," Coach Prime said. "I tell them — the whole team — let's go. You that man. We believe in you. Let's go. And I challenged him in front of the whole team, and he went and did his thing."
He was direct about what the alternative would have been.
"Well, I'm glad he did, because you guys would have been eating him alive if he hadn't," he said. "That's the truth. The kid is still young, man. He's still growing. That's why I don't get up here and clap with my feet and my hands, because I want you guys to give him time, man. Let it happen."
The situation was one the staff had rehearsed. Colorado burned all three timeouts on Georgia Tech's field goal drive, trying to save clock, and got the ball back at its own 25 with 1:40 left and none remaining, down 13-7. Coach Prime said he had walked Lewis and offensive coordinator Brennan Marion through exactly that scenario before the drive.
"I said, 'Look, I'm getting ready to use every one of these timeouts,'" Coach Prime said. "'You're probably gonna have a minute-something left on the clock. Go to work, because we're not gonna have a timeout. So they're not gonna be up, because they don't want to get beat deep. So we gonna have a chance to catch and get out of bounds.'"
Lewis went 4-of-6 on the drive: 17 yards to DeKalon Taylor on the first snap, 16 to Joseph Williams on third-and-11 after a sack, seven more to Williams, and then, after Taylor converted a third-and-3 with a 16-yard run, a 20-yard touchdown to Charlie Williams. Eight plays, 75 yards, 1:03.
"He dialed the correct play, and Juju made the throw, man," Coach Prime said Marion's call. "I'm proud of him."
Asked what the drive said about Lewis, Coach Prime kept coming back to one word.
"He reacts like a kid would react," he said. "He's very respectful. He's very intuitive, understanding, and he understands the moment. He understands the moment."
"He took advantage of the moment; he didn't shrink in it."
Welch's moment came earlier and quieter. His 5-yard touchdown at 13:06 of the second quarter capped a five-play, 35-yard drive on which he carried all five times — 11, 15, 4 and 5 yards, plus the score — and it was the last time the Buffs led until the final minute. It came a season after he had every reason to leave.
"Micah's a dawg, man," Coach Prime said. "They try to run my boy up out of here, and he wasn't having it. He wasn't having it. Listen to me clearly: He wasn't having it. He wasn't about to go. He wasn't about to jump in the portal. He wasn't about to leave. He's like, 'I know who I am. Watch this.' And at every turn, he came and did the doggone thing, and we know what he has."
They were not the only ones. Four Georgians started: Lewis, Welch, Bo Hughley of Fairburn on the offensive line that cleared the way for 183 yards, and Dylan Manuel of Stockbridge, who had two tackles and a tackle for loss in a front that held Georgia Tech to 51 yards on 30 carries. RJ Johnson of McDonough and Kam Perry of Marietta also played.
Coach Prime had spent game week insisting the trip carried no nostalgia for him, and on Thursday he held the line — at least on the ranking.
"I don't rank moments, man," he said. "I don't rank moments. I try to turn them into monuments. That's all I do."
Someone in the room suggested this was a big one.
"Amen," Coach Prime said. "God is good."
Players Mentioned
OL
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RB
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WR
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