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Virginia QB Transfer Anthony Colandrea Commits to UNLV

Matt Newton

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Virginia quarterback transfer Anthony Colandrea announced his commitment to UNLV in an Instagram post on Saturday evening. Colandrea started 17 games over two seasons for the Cavaliers and passed for 4,083 yards and 26 touchdowns to 20 interceptions and is now headed to Las Vegas with two years of eligibility remaining to join UNLV and its new head coach Dan Mullen.

Colandrea took three confirmed visits while in the transfer portal this week, taking a trip to another ACC school in Syracuse last weekend, then Ole Miss during the week, and lastly, to UNLV this weekend, where he ultimately announced his commitment to the Rebels. UNLV went 10-3 this season, made it to the Mountain West Championship Game for the second year in a row, and finished at No. 24 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Head coach Barry Odom departed the program after two seasons to become the head coach at Purdue and the Rebels also lost several key players, including starting quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams.

UNLV hired Dan Mullen, former head coach at Florida and Mississippi State, to take over after Odom and it seems Mullen has secured his new quarterback for the 2025 season by picking up Colandrea's commitment.

Colandrea announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal one day 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 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, and now UNLV 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.

Given Dan Mullen's pedigree and experience as a head coach - he has a 103-61 record as a head coach and took the Gators to three New Year's Six bowl games in his four seasons in Gainesville - this move should give Colandrea a good chance to realize his potential. Virginia, meanwhile, has moved on from Colandrea and Muskett, picking up transfer portal commitments from Nebraska quarterback Daniel Kaelin and North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris, who is likely to be UVA's starting quarterback in 2025.

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

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Potential Landing Spots for Former UVA Wide Receiver Malachi Fields

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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.