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Anthony Colandrea to the SEC? Former UVA Quarterback Visiting Ole Miss

Matt Newton

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Former Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea is taking a visit to Ole Miss on Wednesday (December 18), according to a report by On3's Pete Nakos. Colandrea took a visit to Syracuse on Saturday and was also reportedly considering a visit to Pittsburgh. All three of those schools were included in our list of potential landing spots for Colandrea in the transfer portal.

What's the quarterback situation at Ole Miss? Lane Kiffin and the Rebels will have to replace the program's all-time leader in passing yards and total offense in Jaxson Dart, who will play his final game in an Ole Miss uniform against Duke in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on January 2nd. Redshirt freshman Austin Simmons, a former four-star recruit, appears to be in line to succeed Dart as the starter next season, but Kiffin seems very interested in bringing in another QB from the portal to improve the competition and depth in the Ole Miss quarterback room. There is also another former four-star quarterback on the roster in AJ Maddox. Colandrea would likely have to beat out Maddox just to earn the backup job at Ole Miss.

Colandrea announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal less than 12 hours after Virginia's loss to Virginia Tech in the regular season finale, a game Colandrea watched from the sideline as he was benched in favor of graduating senior Tony Muskett. After setting the UVA freshman records for completions, passing yards, and total offense in relief of an injured Muskett in 2023, then winning the starting job over Muskett and getting off to a great start to open the 2024 season, Colandrea and the Cavalier offense experienced major struggles in the back half of the season. Colandrea threw seven picks to just one touchdown over a three-game stretch, threw for less than 160 passing yards in each of his last five games, and went 20 drives without scoring a touchdown in his last two games as Virginia's starter before getting benched for the Commonwealth Clash.

While the closing stretch of Colandrea's time as a Cavalier was hardly glorious, that hasn't prevented him from being considered one of the most sought after quarterbacks available in the transfer portal. On3 has Colandrea ranked as one of the five best quarterbacks in the transfer portal and the other recruiting services have him firmly in the top 25. The magic formula for Colandrea is that he got an abundance of experience as a starter in two seasons at a Power Conference program, showed flashes of star potential, and still has two years of eligibility remaining. It follows that teams like Ole Miss, Syracuse, or Pitt believe that they could help Colandrea reach his full potential by putting him in a better situation than the one he was in at Virginia. Colandrea is far from blameless for the disappointing end to UVA's season, but many would attribute at least as much responsibility for Virginia's offensive woes to the ineffective offensive line, lack of a run game, and issues with playcalling and scheme.

The question is, if getting benched in the final game of the season was a key factor in Colandrea making the decision to enter the transfer portal (we have to imagine that it was), then will he be satisfied going into a situation at another Power Conference program where the starting quarterback job is far from a guarantee and wouldn't even be a likely outcome for him? While Virginia has moved on with its own quarterback situation, replacing Colandrea and Muskett with a pair of transfers in Chandler Morris from North Texas and Daniel Kaelin from Nebraska, it will certainly be intriguing to see how Colandrea's journey in the transfer portal will unfold.

Keep track of all of UVA's transfer portal activity, including outgoing and incoming transfers, here: Virginia Football Transfer Portal Tracker

Stay up to date on all of the transfers who have received offers from Virginia or who have scheduled visits to UVA here: Tracking UVA Football's Offers and Visits in the Transfer Portal

More Virginia Football News

Virginia Signs NC Central Running Back Transfer J'Mari Taylor

UVA Football: Wide Receiver Malachi Fields Enters Transfer Portal

Potential Landing Spots for Former UVA QB Anthony Colandrea

Virginia Gets Commitment From North Texas Transfer QB Chandler Morris

Louisville Defensive Back Transfer Devin Neal Commits to Virginia

Virginia Football Lands Nebraska Quarterback Transfer Daniel Kaelin

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.