Odd, that the reporters had Virginia coach Tony Elliott for 32 minutes on Tuesday, and he was asked one question about quarterbacks, with no follow-up on who will be getting the start on Saturday when the ‘Hoos face Virginia Tech.
The question: Any update on Tony Muskett?
The answer: “Yeah, you know, he’s progressed to running, and so we’re hopeful,” Elliott said. “It will be end-of-the-week-type deal, but he has progressed to be able to get out of the boot and run around and try to work his way back into practice.”
It would be coaching malpractice for Elliott to go with Muskett, who went down with an ankle injury on the first series of the 45-17 loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 4, and is still nursing a severely injured left shoulder that Elliott has said will require offseason surgery, considering the play of the guy who is technically the backup, Anthony Colandrea.
Colandrea has started five games, and he went the rest of the way in the loss to Georgia Tech, and has been on the field for a full game’s worth of snaps more than the guy who is, on paper, the QB1 (436, to Muskett’s 357).
Looking at the counting numbers, Colandrea has a higher QB rating (144.7-128.8), more passing yards (1,715-1,038), more TD passes (11-6) and more yards on the ground (237-66).
There’s the advantage of health, and then there’s psychology.
Reality here is, Colandrea is a freshman, Muskett is a senior, with a year of eligibility remaining with the COVID redshirt giving him a fifth year.
Having every bit of respect for Muskett for everything he’s done this season, playing through injuries after suffering the left-shoulder issue in the fourth quarter of the Week 1 loss to Tennessee, the future is, we have to hope, anyway, Anthony Colandrea.
Assuming the kid doesn’t decide to hit the transfer portal with the big numbers from his true-freshman season, Colandrea is the building block for Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings on that side of the ball.
If what this painful 2023 season that is either going to end with three or four wins ends with being able to go into the offseason building the offense around Anthony Colandrea, and building the defense around Kam Robinson, it’s been worth it.
You go into next season thinking, bowl, and then Year 4 for Elliott, the 2025 season, with your key guys maturing into being upperclassmen, you set the sights on eight, nine wins, and go from there.
If that’s the thinking, Colandrea starts Saturday with Virginia Tech in the stadium, to begin the build.
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Chris Graham
