After a spring practice and training camp competition, the Virginia football team knows its starter at quarterback for game one. UVA coach Tony Elliott announced sophomore Anthony Colandrea as QB1 on Saturday. The Hoos open the season against Richmond on August 31 at 6 p.m. at Scott Stadium.
Colandrea battled last year’s opening day starter Tony Muskett for the job this offseason. Both players started six games last fall, in part due to two injuries suffered by Muskett, with Colandrea appearing in eight games total. The Hoos went 3-9.
Colandrea (6’0”, 183) completed 154 of 246 passes last season (62.6%, 8.0 yards per attempt) for 1,958 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He added 225 rushing yards as well despite taking 21 sacks. He set single-season freshman records at UVA for completions, passing yards, and total offense (2,183 yards) and the passing yards were the most of any true freshman quarterback in the Power 5 conferences last season.
The biggest criticism for Colandrea as a true freshman came in the form of decision-making. With the ability to move out of the pocket and buy time, he has the ability to make off-script plays but that playground style sometimes led to trouble if he forced throws or held the ball too long. The coaches emphasized throughout the offseason that they wanted to see Colandrea improve in that area to eliminate trouble plays without taking away the “wow” plays he makes.
Statistically, the Florida native actually started to show that improvement before last season finished. Pro Football Focus noted that Colandrea “committed 10 turnover-worthy plays in his first four appearances but just four in his final four appearances.” He led Virginia to an ACC win against Duke on Nov. 18 with arguably his best game of the season. In that victory, he completed 21 of 30 passes for 278 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had no interceptions, took only 1 sack, and added 66 rushing yards in that game too.
Beyond the statistics and decision making, Colandrea brings undeniable energy and flair. It was not uncommon to see him dancing at the end of a TV timeout, thrusting his arms or fist through the air after a big play, or meeting teammates with shared yells after a scoring drive. He showed a lot of confidence – sometimes too brash, perhaps, at least in the case of Virginia Tech week – as well that seemed to draw in many of his teammates.
That carried over into the offseason when he and classmate Kam Robinson, a fellow Virginia true freshman that broke on to the scene quickly at linebacker in 2023, openly tried to recruit players in the transfer portal to join the program. Plus, Colandrea organized a group of receivers to take a spring break trip that included daily workouts in Florida.
In other words, Colandrea treated his role like a starter and he always thought of himself that way.
“This is my job,” Colandrea said in this article. “Every day I’m just going to be the same person, just try to lead these guys and try to go get wins in the season.”
I like it. My buddy Steve thinks we all should all wear colanders on our heads to Scott Stadium. Not exactly the same spelling but it cracked me up.
Works for me but need to be clear it’s a reference to AC and not the line.