Six Cavaliers Who Have Been Bright Spots for Virginia So Far

UVA's 0-4 start to the season is far from ideal, but these players are showing it's not all bad in Charlottesville

Matt Newton | Sep 25, 2023

Six Cavaliers Who Have Been Bright Spots for Virginia So Far /

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Virginia Cavaliers

The first four weeks of the 2023 Virginia football season have been far from ideal. There's no sugarcoating that. But it hasn't been all bad for the 0-4 Cavaliers, who have been competitive in three of those four losses and came very close to winning two of them. The overall performance of this struggling team has been elevated by some particularly overachieving playmakers and they deserve to be recognized.

With that in mind, here's six Cavaliers who have been bright spots for Virginia:

Malik Washington

When the Cavaliers added Malik Washington from the transfer portal, the hope was that he could fill the void left by Keytaon Thompson and Billy Kemp IV in the slot and provide a veteran presence in a young receiver room. Washington has turned out to be so much more than that and has arguably been Virginia's best player through the first four games of the season. In his 40-game career at Northwestern, Washington never once eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark in a game. Now, he's just the third player in UVA program history to have three consecutive games with over 100 receiving yards. In four games, Washington has 28 catches for 459 yards and three touchdowns. His 114.8 yards per game leads the ACC and is No. 7 in the country. Washington is an excellent route runner with good hands and is elite after the catch, using a combination of strength and speed to turn short receptions into big plays. Anthony Colandrea and Malik Washington have developed some serious chemistry and have become a highlight-reel machine over the last few weeks.

Anthony Colandrea

Unsurprisingly, the freshman quarterback makes this list as arguably the biggest bright spot of the season so far, but certainly the most unexpected. When Tony Muskett went down with a shoulder injury in the season opener, Virginia's supposed lack of depth at quarterback became the leading storyline. Three weeks later, that narrative has taken a wild turn as it now seems like Muskett might not get his job back even when he's healthy. Anthony Colandrea has made that outcome a possibility with performances that can only be described as electrifying. There are still growing pains and freshman mistakes, of course, as evidenced by his ACC-leading six interceptions. But Colandrea is simply one of the most exciting players in the country and is a big play waiting to happen every time he drops back to pass. His improvisation skills are off the charts, his confidence in big moments is beyond his years, and the coaching staff clearly trusts him to let it fly. Prospects for the rest of this season are not very high, but Anthony Colandrea is giving the UVA fanbase one big reason to stay engaged and should be the foundation for Virginia's growth as a program over the next few seasons.

Kam Butler

Virginia's defensive line, expected to be the strength of the team this season, has been hit hard by injuries. With Chico Bennett working back from a knee injury, Olasunkonmi Agunloye blowing out his knees in the season opener, and Ben Smiley and Paul Akere being limited recently, the production of UVA's defensive line hasn't been what the Cavaliers hoped or expected. With that said, Kam Butler has been fantastic. An early contender for an All-ACC selection, Butler has 3.5 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss and is tied for 5th in the ACC in both categories. Butler is third on the team with 23 total tackles and 16 of them were solo stops. Virginia is very certainly grateful that Butler decided to come back for his sixth year of college football. Now, the Cavaliers just need the rest of the defensive line to get healthy and return to form.

Malachi Fields

A popular candidate for a breakout season after finishing the 2022 campaign strong, Malachi Fields has already begun to deliver on those expectations. Through four games, Fields has 22 catches for 267 yards and he is averaging 12.1 yards per reception and 66.8 receiving yards per game. His best attribute is his reliability on third downs, as Fields has already converted five third downs with receptions this season. And of course, we have to mention the play that should have sent the game to overtime against NC State, as Colandrea threw a desperate pass to the end zone and Fields went up and made an outstanding catch for the game-tying two-point conversion. Virginia has one of the best receiver duos in the ACC in Fields and Washington.

Jonas Sanker

After emerging onto the scene as a key part of Virginia's much-improved defense in 2022, Jonas Sanker has so far taken another big step forward as a junior in 2023. Through four games, Sanker is by far the team's leading tackler with 33 stops, which ranks 6th in the ACC. 23 of those have been solo tackles, which leads the entire conference and is top 10 nationally. Sanker has posted five pass breakups, which ranks second in the ACC. Virginia's defense got off to a slow start, but has been steadily improving over the last couple of weeks and Jonas Sanker's solid play in the secondary has been a big reason for it.

Kobe Pace

Virginia's ground game has been essentially non-existent, with the Cavaliers averaging just 79.2 yards per game, which ranks 125th out of 130 FBS teams. Kobe Pace is the team's leading rusher, but the Clemson transfer has just 100 total rushing yards and one touchdown through four games. Those numbers are definitively unremarkable, but what has been particularly impressive is Pace's impact on UVA's passing game. Pace is currently the team's third-leading receiver with five catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Pace is averaging 20.6 yards per catch and Virginia's offense has benefited greatly from executing plays with Pace getting the ball out in space. Of course, UVA is still hopeful that the ground game will improve with progression from the offensive line, which has performed better in pass protection recently. If the Cavaliers can open up running lanes more consistently, there is utmost confidence that Kobe Pace can take advantage.

Honorable Mention: Promising Freshmen

Anthony Colandrea is getting the spotlight as the freshman phenom and deservedly so, but there are several freshmen on this UVA roster giving the Cavaliers notable contributions, including Kam Robinson, Dre Walker, Suderian Harrison, and Mekhi Buchanan, just to name a few.

These bright spots will look to help lead the Cavaliers to their first win of the season on Saturday, when Virginia travels to take on Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

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Published Sep 25, 2023

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.