Former UVA QB1 Anthony Colandrea was technically the starter at his new stop, UNLV, in the Week 0 season opener, but he was lifted after one play in favor of Michigan transfer Alex Orji, who was 3-for-3 for 37 yards on the opening drive of the Rebels’ 38-31 comeback win over Idaho State, a second-tier (which is being generous) FCS team.
Orji, critically, fumbled trying to stretch a running play into the endzone, and found himself relegated to the bench much of the rest of the way.
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Colandrea, a junior, ended up taking 58 of the 73 offensive snaps in the opener, completing 15 of his 21 pass attempts for 195 yards and a TD, and adding 117 yards (sack-adjusted) on the ground – 73 of those yards coming on scrambles (sound familiar?).
He was sacked three times (again, sound familiar?), two of those coming against standard pressure (again, again, sound familiar?).
Orji did get back on the field in the fourth quarter after an Idaho State turnover set up the Rebs with the ball at the ISU 20, with the score tied at 31, and ran the ball on three consecutive plays, the last an 11-yard TD run that put UNLV ahead to stay.
It would be fair to assume that the new UNLV coach, Dan Mullen, whose name you might recognize as the guy who coached Florida against the Bronco Mendenhall team that made the Orange Bowl in 2019, will go with a rotation at QB again next week at Sam Houston, but I’d also assume that Colandrea will be getting the bulk of the snaps, unless he does something stupid, which he did plenty of last couple of years at UVA, come to think of it.
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Chris Graham
