After opening up fall camp last week, UVa is just a few practices in at this point with less than four weeks until the season opener against UR at Scott Stadium. The entire team has plenty to work on and there will be competition across the roster in the weeks to come.
But whenever there is a battle for starting quarterback, that competition takes center stage until it is resolved.
After splitting time last year and again this spring, Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea remain locked in a battle that’s too close to call at this point.
Quarterback competitions can be anxious times or can create a divide in the locker room, in the coaching staff, and even in the fanbase. But this one feels a bit different than other quarterback battles we’ve seen in the past. For starters, both players are not only known commodities but known to Virginia as both of them played significant snaps last year. Both had strong moments too, and each won ACC games. That experience, along with the growth the quarterbacks have had since then, leaves the staff feeling optimistic no matter who wins the job.
“We’ve got four guys in the room that have played collegiate football, in games,” quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb said at the preseason media luncheon. “You’ve got three guys that have played in games here, and have proven themselves from that standpoint, in Grady (Brosterhaus), Tony and Colandrea.
“And then you look at those four guys, and the offseason they’ve had, they’re in the best shape of their lives,” Lamb continued. “Tony’s as healthy as he’s been since he’s been here. Colandrea has put on weight and looks great. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them this summer. The expectations are high in our room and they should be because we’ve got really good depth and we’ve got guys that have proven they can win Power 4 games.”
Another reason to feel good about the state of the quarterback position, regardless of who wins the job, is familiarity with the system and the program in general. Both Colandrea and Muskett arrived in spring practice last year, and have had two springs, a full season, one full fall camp and now a few more fall camp practices to digest everything and improve their respective performances.
“Going to the mental aspect of it, obviously these guys at this point are masters,” Lamb explained. “They came in at the same time, they should be masters of our playbook and our offensive scheme. Going into the summer, you have the opportunity to take the next step in quarterback play. More the mental side, the leadership side, and how to handle certain situations.”
This year’s competition is certainly different than last year’s, though the same two quarterbacks are involved. Despite the fact that Colandrea had some flashes in the 2023 Spring Game and was complimented for his play in fall camp, it felt like it was Muskett’s job to lose given his breadth of experience starting at Monmouth, and that he would have had to stumble to lose the job, which didn’t happen in fall camp. But once Colandrea had an opportunity to show what he could do in games, it made the quarterback situation far more complex. He had strong moments in the games he started against JMU, Maryland and NC State, but looked like a freshman at times, too.
UVa was 0-4 by the time Muskett was able to return, so perhaps the fact that Colandrea hadn’t led the team to any wins made it easier to go back to the initial starter. The same situation appeared again at the end of the season, when Colandrea played well in Muskett’s absence, leading into the finale against Virginia Tech when Muskett’s health was unclear and Colandrea had just led the Hoos to a win over Duke. Colandrea got the start in the last game, and it appeared that Muskett wasn’t ready to return.
And now, because the two QBs are neck and neck, and it really does feel like it’s difficult to separate them, the staff has to manage reps and make sure they can evaluate both players as best they can with the practices they have this month. Even with that potential complication, the staff feels good about how the quarterback battle will unfold.
“It hasn’t been a challenge at all; it would be a bigger challenge if they were just polar opposite skill sets,” offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said before the start of camp. “They’re so similar. Both are cerebral guys, both guys are mobile, both guys can throw from the pocket or on the move. So that doesn’t change, and that allows for a better evaluation of them too because you’re really comparing them equally, through it.”
“We did a good job this spring as an offensive staff, splitting these guys up,” Lamb said. “But we didn’t have the depth in the spring from a health standpoint; they were splitting first team reps, and that’s what they were getting. But really we feel we’re really deep at a lot of positions on offense, so we can get these guys first or second team reps and we’ve got a great plan in place to get these guys reps. It’s all pre-practice, you’ve already got your guys and the reps, how many they’re getting and at the end of practice it should split up pretty evenly.”
And while the quarterbacks are similar in terms of their skillsets, they don’t play the same way.
“These two guys are different players, from that aspect,” Lamb said. “Colandrea is exciting, explosive. Muskett is consistent. Our goal is to get these guys to play the best quarterback they can play and can be. At the end of the day, us coaches try to make it confusing but who moves the offense down the field efficiently and into the end zone, without turning the ball over?
You look at that and set practice up and try to get them both that opportunity to show ‘hey, I can do this’,” he added. “And both of them have proven they can do it but who can do it at a higher rate and be successful. We feel blessed because we have two guys that have proven they can win Power 4 games at this level.”
Another factor the coaches will have to evaluate as camp unfolds is not just which QB plays better in practice but which best compliments the team around them?
If the Cavaliers have a quality offensive line and think they can move the chains and have long, successful drives, perhaps the more consistent option that takes better care of the football would make sense. And if they feel the offense is going to struggle to be consistent, or is going to need more game-breaking plays, and perhaps more quarterback runs, maybe the gambler is the correct choice.
“That factors in a bunch,” Lamb said of UVa’s talent around the QB and how that will factor into the decision. “What does our identity want to be on offense? We have to figure that out through camp, because these players are going to tell us who we are on offense through camp and what we can do at a high rate. There’s two quarterbacks that are different in play type but at the end of the day, they’re not so different. Tony can take that challenge and be an explosive guy in his play, and Colandrea is taking that challenge to say ‘I can be consistent, too.’
“So that competition pushes those guys, Colandrea can be more consistent, Muskett can be more explosive, and then you’ve got two really good players and more complete players,” he added. “And that’s the goal of competition and depth.”
The last detail of the competition that provides some optimism, and it’s an important one, is that it feels that everyone is pushing towards the same goal of winning. It doesn’t feel that there is a divide in the locker room, at least not now, and both quarterbacks have trust. It helps, to be sure, that both played quite a bit last season and their teammates know what they’re capable of doing when they’re in the game.
In talking to the staff and the quarterbacks, it seems clear that both players are handling their battle well and this fall camp is more of a collaboration, than a competition, in the quarterback room.
“They’ve handled it with pure class, just competition wise,” Lamb said of Muskett and Colandrea. “Control what they can control and let the chips fall where they may,”
“Me and Tony are super close. We’re like brothers,” Colandrea said after Friday’s practice. “So if he makes a good play I’m going to compliment him, and if I make a good play he’s going to compliment me. So it’s awesome.”
Although the vibes are good and everyone is being supportive and saying the right things, eventually the staff will have to settle on a starter, and only one guy can play at a time.
As far as when the competition will be resolved, it could take some time. UVa will have more than two dozen fall camp practices to evaluate, including at least a couple of scrimmages, and unless something changes it seems a safe bet that both quarterbacks will have their moments, and the battle for the starting job will be tough to call.
“We can go all the way up to the first game and decide,” Lamb noted. “You’d like to have a decision before the first game and have a decision going into the first game week. We’ll know more in a couple weeks.
“We’re going to try and take advantage of all the practices that we have, I think it’s 25 true fall camp practices before the first game,” UVa’s third-year QB coach continued. “Those guys will have every opportunity to win the job and go from there.”
While it would be great to have a starter all the way through camp, this year’s competition doesn’t feel like a ‘if you have two quarterbacks then you don’t have one situation,’ and UVa has seen plenty of those over the years. Both Colandrea and Muskett seem to be quality options to lead the offense and should give the unit a chance to improve on their three-win total from 2023. And if something should happen to the starter, there’s a competent, game-tested backup waiting in the wings.
“Quarterback competitions are funny,” Lamb said. “In practice, they’re delicate and you’ve got to handle them the right way. But at the end of the day, anybody on the offense, the other ten guys, feel comfortable with whoever we put out there for the first game.
“We’re going to operate as one position,” he added. “Whoever is out there is the quarterback, so we feel good as an offensive staff, for sure.”
