Isaiah Lewis preparing for a swift rebound after loss

DENVER, Co. — Colorado had Texas A&M on the ropes last Saturday, but couldn’t finish the job.

Although the loss was gut-wrenching for the Buffaloes, going blow for blow with a top-10 team was enough to give Isaiah Lewis confidence for the remainder of the season.

The junior safety had a solid performance and finished second on the team with six solo tackles. If it wasn’t for a missed field goal and a failed fourth down attempt, the Buffaloes could’ve very well won the game. In Lewis’ eyes his team’s outing was promising. Which is why he refuses to let the loss shatter Colorado’s momentum.

“We never want to lose a game and we were expecting to win this game, so we’re taking that same mentality at every single matchup that we get,” Lewis said. “You know we’re going to come back stronger.”

After all, the Buffaloes’ defense was the team’s brightest spot and the reason for Lewis’ optimism. The unit is physical and plays with tenacity. And Texas A&M found that out the hard way. It’s just unfortunate the defense had to play so many snaps, which led to the Buffaloes being fatigued down the stretch.

However, holding the Aggies to their lowest point total since November of 2019, made the rest of the Pac-12 take notice. Texas A&M obviously had more talent and size, but that didn’t matter to Colorado. Coach Karl Dorrell was able to take away the Aggies’ offensive weapons and made them one dimensional for nearly four quarters.

Depth became a glaring issue as the defense couldn’t make the explosive stops the unit made it the first half. Quarterback Brendon Lewis held onto the ball too long in the pocket and was a bit apprehensive with his throws. The Aggies took away the running game and forced the quarterback to beat them with his arm, and he wasn’t ready.

Now Lewis and his teammates are expecting a grueling week of practice in order to pick up the pieces. The leaders are holding themselves and their teammates accountable. Most importantly, no one is pointing fingers. Instead the Buffaloes are rallying behind their coach and quarterback.

“We think we could have won, but we’re gonna get back, we’re going to fix our corrections, and then, you know, just move into next week,” he said. “Like I said we’re not going to hang our heads, we’re going to make improvements and corrections, and you know we’re ready for the next competition.”

Lewis is off to a great start on the season, with eight tackles through two games. If the California native keeps up his production at this rate, he’ll double the number of stops he made in 2020.

Minnesota will be invading Folsom Field this Saturday and Colorado needs to be ready to stop the run again. The Buffaloes did limit the Aggies to 108 yards on the ground. The Gophers are a smashmouth Big Ten team that’s going to try and establish the line of scrimmage, even without star rusher Mohamed Ibrahim.

It’s a challenge Lewis believes the defense will be ready for and they’re all dialed in.

“We’re going to take it step by step, we’re going to get the process going back next week.”