Coach Tony Elliott gave sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea the keys to the program back in August. He knew it was always going to be a bumpier ride with Colandrea behind the wheel than with graduate quarterback Tony Muskett. But Elliott, and Virginia’s coaching staff more broadly, banked on the potential of the younger signal-caller. Three months later, it is time for Elliott to pump the brakes on a season careening toward disaster.
In his freshman 2023 season, Colandrea showed a knack for explosive plays, even if his aggression blew up in his face at times. That excitement, coupled with three remaining years of eligibility, made Colandrea the coaching staff’s choice for the future.
Initially, the coaches’ bold choice looked to have paid off. The Cavaliers were 4-1 through five weeks, and Colandrea had passed for 11 touchdowns to four interceptions through seven weeks. Stretches of reckless decision-making resurfaced at times, but on the whole, he showed improvement.
Since then, however, Colandrea’s play has nosedived. He has thrown just one touchdown to seven interceptions in the past two and a half games. His implosive three-interception first half versus Notre Dame Saturday was enough to get him benched in favor of Muskett in the second half.
With the exception of Colandrea’s second interception against the Fighting Irish — which was partly the fault of junior running back Xavier Brown, who failed to haul in a pass thrown slightly behind him — the sophomore’s mistakes last Saturday were mental.
On Colandrea’s first pick, Virginia ran a vertical concept that sent graduate tight end Tyler Neville across the field on an over route.
Notre Dame rotated out of their two-high shell post snap, and Colandrea threw it straight to the free safety who had dropped down to take away Neville.
Colandrea made a similar mistake on his third interception of the game, which came less than three minutes after his first one.
The Cavaliers aligned with three receivers to the wide side of the field, with senior receiver Malachi Fields running an in-route as the X receiver.
Colandrea stared down Fields and tried to bend a pass between two Notre Dame defenders. The safety, senior Xavier Watts, made a strong break on the football and undercut the route.
It was an impressive play by Watts, but it was also a ball that Colandrea never should have thrown. It was a one-man route to the play side, meaning no other Cavalier was stressing Watts. With no responsibilities, Watts was able to freelance and bait Colandrea for the pick. The Fighting Irish had fooled him again, running practically the exact same coverage.
The interceptions are microcosmic examples of the Colandrea experience — with 16 starts under his belt, the sophomore is still making the same mistakes he made as a freshman.
One of the biggest misconceptions about his play is that those mistakes are balanced by explosive plays. The truth is that Colandrea has been a relatively conservative quarterback this season, throwing 63 percent of his passes shy of the first down marker. His average depth of target is 8.3 yards this season — down from 10.7 in 2023 — but, contrary to what one might expect, Colandrea’s less aggressive style has not resulted in fewer turnovers. In a nightmarish development, he has cut down on his rate of explosive plays while throwing picks at the same clip.
In short, Colandrea is spiraling out of control, and Elliott has an obligation to his young quarterback and the rest of the team to intervene. Colandrea posted a 37.1 passer rating against Notre Dame, his worst of the season by far. No player at any other position could ever have such an abysmal performance and hope to play the following week. So if Elliott decides to stick with Colandrea, he signals that his quarterback is held to a different standard than the rest of the team.
However, it’s not as if the Cavaliers are handcuffed to Colandrea with no other options. Virginia is uniquely situated with a capable backup in Muskett. The veteran has done well as a reliever this season, completing 65 percent of his passes for three touchdowns and one interception.
Muskett is not flashy, but he’s stable, and he’s the type of quarterback this team needs to play complementary football through its defense.
The Cavaliers’ defense ranks sixth in the ACC in points allowed. Imagine how much better they would be if they weren’t constantly handed short playing space and could afford to allow a couple of first downs without the opponent reaching the redzone. All Virginia needs is an offense that stays ahead of the chains and plays turnover-free football — its current starting quarterback has not proved he can do that with any consistency.
The door should not be shut on Colandrea for good. He’s young and, at times, has looked like the Cavaliers’ quarterback of the future. He just needs to take a step away from the game for a week or two, as difficult as that may be.
Some might worry that benching Colandrea could push him into the transfer portal. In response, I pose this question — where would he go? Realistically, based on his play in 2024, he would likely have to transfer down to start somewhere else. With Muskett out of the equation next year, Virginia would likely remain Colandrea’s best option to start for a power conference school, no matter what plays out during the rest of this season.
This is where Elliott must deftly walk a tightrope between the present and future needs of the program. It might be hard to convince Colandrea that he is the team’s quarterback moving forward should Muskett get the start Saturday against No. 13 Southern Methodist. But it seems impossible to convince the team that starting Colandrea gives them the best chance to win.
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