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Virginia Quarterback Anthony Colandrea Enters Transfer Portal

Matt Newton

MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea is planning to enter the transfer portal, Colandrea announced in a social media post on Sunday afternoon. UVA benched Colandrea in favor of Tony Muskett for the regular season finale at Virginia Tech, which ended in a 37-17 loss for the Cavaliers on Saturday night in Blacksburg. After two seasons in Charlottesville in which he started 17 games, Colandrea enters the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. Colandrea will officially enter the portal when it opens on December 9th.

A sophomore from St. Petersburg, Florida, Colandrea "pushed" former Monmouth transfer Tony Muskett for the starting quarterback job at Virginia as a true freshman, then wound up playing in eight games and making six starts in the 2023 season as Muskett suffered through significant injury troubles. Due to the promise and potential Colandrea showed in his freshman campaign as well as his performances in fall camp this past August, Colandrea earned the starting quarterback job at Virginia in 2024.

Colandrea started each of UVA's first 11 games of the season, leading the Cavaliers to a 5-6 record. The first half of the season saw Virginia start 4-1 behind steady play from Colandrea, who had eight touchdown passes and four interceptions in those first five games. But his play hadn't been nearly as clean in the back half of the campaign, as Colandrea threw for under 160 passing yards in each of his last five games and threw seven interceptions and just one touchdown in a three-game stretch. Between the Notre Dame and SMU games, which ended up being Colandrea's final two games in a Virginia uniform, the UVA offense went 20-consecutive drives without scoring a touchdown with Colandrea at quarterback.

The regression in Colandrea's play, combined with the solid quarterback performances Virginia got from Tony Muskett in garbage time throughout the course of the season, prompted Tony Elliott to make a change at the most important position on the field heading into the final game of the season against Virginia Tech. More than a year after his most recent start, Muskett returned to the starting QB position for what ended up being his final college football game, but the move didn't pay the dividends the Cavaliers were looking for, as they went down 20-3 by halftime and wound up losing to the Hokies 37-17.

Muskett played better in the second half and rushed for a pair of touchdowns, but it was hardly the game he or the Cavaliers were hoping to have in the Commonwealth Clash. He finished 19/36 (53%) for 178 yards and two interceptions and rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

Virginia started the 2024 season with two players with an abundance of starting experience at quarterback. Now, it seems the Cavaliers are losing both as Colandrea hits the portal and Muskett has exhausted his collegiate eligibility. UVA will have four quarterbacks on the roster for the 2025 season as it currently stands: Gavin Frakes, Boone Lourd, Grady Brosterhous, and Alexander Brady; but none of them have any amount of significant playing experience. Virginia has two quarterbacks coming in from the 2025 recruiting class: three-stars Bjorn Jurgensen and Cole Geer. But Tony Elliott and company will undoubtedly begin searching the portal for a quarterback as well.

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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.