Virginia Football: Tony Elliott Open to Playing Both Quarterbacks

Matt Newton | Aug 20, 2024

UVA football head coach Tony Elliott has yet to name a starting quarterback and says he is open to playing both Anthony Colandrea and Tony Muskett. / Virginia Athletics/USA TODAY Sports

Tony Elliott held his final press conference of fall camp on Monday evening and, somewhat expectedly, he has yet to name a starting quarterback as the competition between Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea continues with less than two weeks remaining before the 2024 Virginia football season begins.

Here's what Elliott said on Monday about his timeline for determining the starting quarterback for week 1.

"I'm hopeful that, as we get through this week, in fairness to whoever it is, he'll at least have a week to prep as the starter, but we're gonna have some tough conversations with all of our personnel over the next couple of days," Elliott said. "This is a little bit different because of the times that we've had in camp. We've really been able to push these competitions to get a good body of work to make decisions. So, I'm hopeful that sometime this week, we should be able to settle in on who's going to be the guy, or if it's going to be a combination of both of them, again. For those guys, they've battled their tail off. They've both done a good job. And now it's on us as coaches to do the right thing based on the body of work as we truly evaluate it and what gives us the best chance to go win football games."

It was always a possibility, and a relatively likely one, that Elliott would wait until the week of UVA's season-opener against Richmond to publicly name a quarterback. But not only has Elliott and the Cavalier coaching staff not given any indication as to which way they are leaning as fall camp comes to a close, but Elliott also said he hasn't ruled out playing both quarterbacks. When asked about the possibility of playing both quarterbacks, this was his answer:

"That's to be determined. If that's the way that it shakes out, you know, that's the way that it shakes out. And again, we'll have those conversations and see what's best for the football team," said Elliott. "I think you got both guys that are very, very capable. But I'm not gonna say yes, I'm not gonna say no. Those will be conversations that we'll have the rest of this week to determine as we get ready to prep and how we need to prep for Richmond."

Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea both started six games last season and each had their ups and downs, which is why this quarterback competition is so close. But last season, all of the games Colandrea started were with Muskett unable to play due to various injuries. Now, both quarterbacks are healthy and Elliott and his coaching staff have a tough decision to make with many factors to be considered.

Which quarterback gives Virginia the best chance to win? How long is the leash for the eventual starter in week 1? Does Tony Muskett's experience give him the nod or does Anthony Colandrea's future potential as a younger player make a difference? Does playing both quarterbacks in the same game offer more benefits than drawbacks?

I, for one, do not envy the UVA coaching staff for the decision before them, but the clock is ticking.

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