Anthony Colandrea Announced as UVA Football’s Starting Quarterback

Tony Elliott has officially announced Anthony Colandrea to be Virginia’s starting quarterback in the Cavaliers week one opener against Richmond

Colandrea will start for the Cavaliers against Richmond after being named Virginia's starting quarterback. / Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

After a long fall camp of competition between quarterbacks Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea, Tony Elliott has given the nod to sophomore Anthony Colandrea to command the Virginia offense against Richmond. Elliott named Colandrea as UVA's starting quarterback for next Saturday's season opener against Richmond in a press release on Saturday morning.

All of camp, this quarterback battle has been classified as extremely contentious, with the two quarterbacks giving it their all, pushing each other every day for the starting job. Throughout camp, both Colandrea and Muskett alternated practicing with the first-team offense to allow them both to develop chemistry with the starting group headed into the opening day of the season. 

With Colandrea set to start, he will look to build on his historic first season, where he broke the UVA freshman single-season records for completions (154), passing yards (1,958), and total offense (2,183). Colandrea also threw for 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions throughout the eight games he featured in. Last season, Colandrea was the story of camp pushing Muskett for the starting job. When Muskett went down with an injury against Tennessee, Colandrea was tossed right into the fire, allowing him to gain valuable experience as a freshman, which he can use to build on in 2024. 

So why does this make sense? 

It's simple. Anthony Colandrea is the future of Virginia football. 

The quarterback from St. Petersburg, Florida, is only a sophomore and will be the Virginia quarterback for the next three years, so getting him game time now makes logical sense. Colandrea has also shown he is a playmaker, and with only one year of college action, is expected to develop into an even sharper quarterback. 

Colandrea also had the statistical edge last season over Muskett in completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio, and yards per attempt. He also had the better "best performance" with Colandrea’s best game last season coming against Duke, where he threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions. 

With that said, Colandrea will lead the Cavaliers in their home opener against Richmond on Saturday, August 31st, at 6pm.

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