Should Anthony Colandrea start for UVA football versus Virginia Tech?

In August, head coach Tony Elliott entrusted sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea with the next three years of the Virginia Cavaliers football program. What we saw from the Florida native through eight games in 2023 was promising: explosive, unscripted plays with an uncanny ability to use his legs when plays broke down. That’s something Virginia hasn’t seen from a first-year under center since maybe Jameel Sewell in 2006.

For the most part, Colandrea lived up to the hype from Weeks 1 through 6 this season, leading the Cavaliers to a 4-1 record, with the only blemish being another multiple-pick game against Maryland. The night game in Winston-Salem was arguably his best showing of 2024 and made Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings’ decision to go with Colandrea seem justified.

But the one-liners that broadcasters recited ad nauseam over Colandrea’s highlights have lost their luster as the season has progressed. The truth is, Colandrea simply isn’t the quarterback he once was. The off-the-cuff player where the pocket would move and he would hit a tailback on a wheel route for 40+ yards is no longer there.

The improv skills that won the young actor his starring role now have him yelling “dash” seemingly every series. 39 sacks will do that to you. Who exactly to point the finger at is unknown.

Has it been the acting that calls? The offensive line? Does the receiving core lack a true middle option? Or is it simply Colandrea’s confidence? Louisville and North Carolina will be the games he wants back, but the ‘Hoos have played three top-12 teams over the last five weeks. Any underclassman calling up will struggle when faced with the front seven.

So that brings us to the question at hand. Should Colandrea be the guy in Blacksburg tomorrow? At the beginning of the season, if you would have known Virginia’s record heading into the rivalry week and known the strength of the schedule in the second half, I think the expectations would be to stick with whoever had been under center the first 11 games . Most wins in the Tony Elliott era and a shot at the postseason for the first time since 2019? Register me.

The time to start Tony Muskett has come and gone. If the Monmouth transfer was going to be the guy this weekend, then at least some snaps last weekend against SMU would have been necessary. Muskett has been deployed in garbage time across three games this year and to port higher expectations of graduate students in a harsh environment, in a game of this magnitude, is completely unfair.

The coaching staff obviously still has all the confidence in the world in Colandrea and sees 2024 as an investment in the future of the program. A win in Blacksburg on Thanksgiving weekend with Colandrea as the QB1 sends the program into the postseason and beyond with significant momentum, far more momentum than even a win with Muskett — who won’t be on any depth chart next fall — as the starter.

Will the stars line up over a cold Lane Stadium in prime time? Both Commonwealth Cup contenders are battered and broken in the backfield. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes on Saturday gets a few weeks of training and a ticket to somewhere far colder than Virginia in late December.