UVa's QBs are focused on getting better, not the QB1 race
It’s been several years since UVa had a wide open quarterback race, but it appears that’s what Tony Elliott has on his hands heading into this weekend’s Spring Game.
Tony Muskett, of course, opened last year as the starter, but was injured in the first game and again later in the season against Georgia Tech after regaining his starting role. Anthony Colandrea took over when Muskett was out, starting games 2-4, before going back to the bench, and eventually starting the final three contests of the year after Muskett’s second injury.
Each signal caller had both strong moments and disappointing ones last fall. Colandrea has more long-term potential and a higher upside, but Muskett is steady and played well when healthy, leading UVa to a major road upset at No. 10 North Carolina in October.
Now, as spring ball starts to wrap up, both quarterbacks are sharing the opportunities and making their case to be the starter.
“It’s been positive,” quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb said of the competition between Muskett and Colandrea this spring. “And it really started in winter conditioning, just splitting reps pretty evenly with the first and second group. But it’s been positive from both; both had really, really good approaches. Just approaching their game, and focusing on what they need to get better at, and competition breeds greatness. They’re pushing each other, which is great.”
“Coach E met with both of us, and we have a great relationship, he was very open about it,” Muskett explained. “He said this spring, we’re not really going to focus on that, we want to see you guys go out and play football. That’s been my mindset, whether I’m taking reps with the first team, second team, third team or all freshmen out there. My mindset has been to compete, do what I can, do my best, and whatever happens is whatever happens.”
Colandrea echoed the same sentiments, saying that it feels more like a competition this spring than it did last year. But right now, both players are working on getting better, letting the starting job sort itself out in time.
“I think so but at the same time right now, we’re not really focused on that,” Colandrea said when asked if he felt like it was a battle for the starting job this spring. “We’re both just coming and competing. That’s the same thing that happened last year, we just came to work and competed. And we really never thought about who’s going to start, this and that. It was just both of us competing, doing our job, and just helping this offense go win games.”
While Colandrea and Muskett are fighting to start, they are different players with different objectives and areas of focus this spring. For Colandrea, it starts with being more vocal in the locker room,
“I would say leadership,” he explained when asked what he had to work on this spring. “Last year, a freshman, I had to earn the respect of my teammates. I really wasn’t talking a lot, wasn’t vocal.”
The young QB is also working on playing more under control as a sophomore after some freshmen moments proved costly last fall.
“Coach Elliott, he says ‘you can play like that but also know when to calm down, when to go to your checkdown and stuff,’” the Tampa native recalled. “But at the end of the day, Coach Elliott just wants me to go out there and play football and play how I play.”
Muskett is a more experienced quarterback that has seen far more game action than Colandrea but he has things he can clean up, too.
“Definitely my pocket movement,” he said when asked what he was focused on this spring. “I want to help those guys up front. I think I put them in some bad positions last year, just in terms of our tackle spots. Being firm in the pocket, knowing when to move, knowing where to move and when to get out.”
While working on improving, Muskett is also fresh off of an offseason procedure following an injury-plagued 2023 campaign. The good news is that his surgery went well and he ended up ahead of schedule and ready to participate in the spring.
“I feel really good. Obviously I had the surgery pretty soon after the Virginia Tech game. But I’ve been really blessed, God helped me in my recovery,” the former Monmouth standout said.
A big step in leading the team is getting to know your teammates and building a rapport with them. In the transfer portal era, quarterbacks are often playing with brand new skill talent from one year to the next. That’s the case at Virginia, where Muskett and Colandrea will be throwing to a seemingly brand new group of wideouts along with several returnees.
Muskett said that it’s been a good process getting to know his new wide receivers, and developing a chemistry.
“That’s definitely something you can figure out pretty quick,” he said of learning players’ strengths and how they like the ball thrown to them. “Like Trell Harris, he’s a speed guy. He can run with anybody. Dre Greene, he’s really good in his routes and getting out, and a really good possession receiver. So you can really pick that up quick. And credit to them because they’re always out here, they’re giving it all at practice so we can get those reps and gain that chemistry. Those guys came in, they had the right mindset, all three of them, Chris (Tyree), Trell and Dre, they’ve been working their tails off. So it’s easy to pick up chemistry with those guys when you have hard working guys that want to come in and do the right thing and get better, as well.”
Colandrea took a big step towards accomplishing two goals this offseason: increasing his leadership role and meeting his new receivers. He said he and the receiver group went down to Florida to spend time together, getting timing down and putting in work ahead of spring ball. The trip also brought the group closer, as 13 Wahoos spent a week together working daily, sleeping in the same house.
“You always see the NFL guys, C.J. Stroud, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, they always bring their guys to their state and they go work out and build chemistry. The best football teams are always the closest teams,” Colandrea explained. “We’re all so tight now. After that trip everyone is really tight, we’re all communicating well, even on the football field we’re playing really well together.”
UVa fans will have to wait until the fall to hear who QB1 will be on August 31st against Richmond, but in the meantime a healthy competition continues. It helps that Colandrea and Muskett work well together and have a common goal in mind which is to get UVa back to winning.
“I’m bought in,” Colandrea said on Monday. “I’m 100 percent bought in, I just want this team to win football games.”
