The last we heard from UVA Football coach Tony Elliott, the word with the quarterback situation was “evaluate.”
That was after the 41-14 loss to North Carolina on Oct. 19, which didn’t go well for anybody.
Then we had a bye week, and no contact with Elliott.
The word today, as the focus for the UVA Football program turns to #23 Pitt, is, nothing is changing.
“Man, right now AC is our guy,” Elliott told reporters in his game-week presser, referring to Anthony Colandrea, the starter all season.
“Do recognize that Tony (Muskett) has come in and provided a spark. As I said at the beginning of the season, we’re going to need both of those guys throughout the course of the season to figure out how to win games,” Elliott said.
“Just been proud of how those guys have battled amidst the adversity, and really just focusing on AC’s fundamentals and the things he can control to get better,” Elliott said. “But what happened in the last game, I think, is tough on a quarterback, when you’re getting hit that much, to truly evaluate them.”
ICYMI: UVA Football
- UVA Football: All eyes are on what’s wrong with the football, gameday sides of the program
- UVA Football: This one felt like the beginning of the end of something
- Beatdown: North Carolina dominates Virginia, 41-14, snaps four-game losing streak
The QB controversy, such as there was one, arose because Muskett had put up good counting numbers in garbage time in each of the past two Virginia losses.
Muskett, last year’s QB1, was 6-of-7 for 119 yards and two TDs in garbage time of the 48-31 loss at Clemson on Oct. 19, and 8-of-13 for 125 yards and a TD in the loss to UNC.
Colandrea, meanwhile, struggled in both – the sophomore was 15-of-26 for 159 yards and two TDs in the Clemson loss, and 16-of-28 for 156 yards and two INTs in the loss to North Carolina.
O line play has been a big part of that
Colandrea has also been beaten to a pulp of late – taking four sacks in the Clemson game, and nine (!) in the Carolina game.
The struggles for Colandrea in the Oct. 26 loss came as the offensive line had its worst game of the season, per Pro Football Focus, with an average blocking grade of 50.8.
Colandrea was pressured on 18 of his 38 pass dropbacks, and was 1-of-8 with an INT and eight sacks on those pressured dropbacks, per PFF numbers.
The line was missing starting center Brian Stevens, who was ruled out on the Friday before the UNC game, forcing Noah Josey to move over from left guard.
Aside from a bad snap on a first-and-goal from the UNC 1 in the first quarter that set UVA behind the chains and led to a short Will Bettridge field goal, Josey played well, getting a unit-best 61.2 PFF grade.
The problem was, the guys who filled in for Josey at left guard, Ugonna Nnanna and Charlie Patterson, gave up a total of three sacks and eight QB pressures.
And Jack Whitmer, the converted tight end who had only allowed one sack and 10 QB pressures on 200 pass dropbacks going into the UNC game, was overmatched by the Tar Heels front.
Witmer, splitting time at left and right tackle, was dinged for three sacks and a total of seven QB pressures on 46 pass dropbacks.
The bulk of the issues with the line came with Colandrea in the game.
Muskett, operating largely against subs and soft coverage in garbage time, was only pressured on four of his 15 dropbacks, and was sacked just once.
“Yeah, I mean, it was tough day at the office for everybody the last outing,” Elliott said. “In fairness to Colandrea, when you’re taking a three-step drop, and you’re at the top of your drop, and your third step is in the ground, and guys are on your back or at your feet, I mean, doesn’t matter who you got at quarterback.”
Elliott stood up for Colandrea, a sophomore, saying he was “proud of how he competed considering the amount he was getting hit in this game.”
“He just kept battling. To me, he didn’t lose his composure. Stood in there and threw some good balls. Then also, wasn’t able to fully get through his progression. It’s hard to evaluate,” Elliott said.
In need of a deep threat
Wideout Trell Harris (13 catches/18 targets, 201 yards, two TDs in three game) is still “about two, three weeks away,” Elliott said, meaning the UVA offense is two, three weeks away from getting its one legitimate deep threat back.
“I think with Trell being down, in particular, teams are sitting on us a little bit more,” Elliott said. “We got to figure out a way to get the ball down the field, put the ball up in the air and see can we have somebody.”
Elliott pointed to grad senior Chris Tyree (18 catches/24 targets, 82 yards in six games) as a help in being a vertical speed threat, but Tyree has been used exclusively on screens and other short passes this season.
The lack of a downfield threat has allowed opponents to play press coverage, which keeps defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage to help in the run game.
The solution?
“I mean, one, we got to protect so that when our shots are open down the field, we can deliver the ball. It starts right there,” Elliott said.
Good news on that front: Stevens is back and ready to go on Saturday, Elliott said, as is Ty Furnish, who was out for the UNC game.
With the line in flux, the game plan for Pitt on Saturday will probably have to include “some move-the-pocket stuff, double-move stuff, just to see, can you spring a guy down the field?” Elliott said.
“For us, more than anything is being able to protect long enough so that we can give AC a chance,” Elliott said. “You know, if you’re throwing quick game all the time, it’s hard to get the ball down the field. You got to drop back. Got to have some of your five-step, seven-step timing stuff. Move the pocket to allow the routes to develop down the field.”
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