Tony Muskett, from what we’re being told, was the clear #1 for UVA Football at quarterback going into fall camp, but head coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings are giving Muskett and Colandrea plenty of reps with the first-team offense.
Probably a good plan there, given the injury issues that sidelined Muskett, a fifth-year senior, in 2023, limiting him to six starts, forcing Colandrea, as a true freshman, to grow up in a hurry.
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Kitchings, talking with reporters after practice on Friday, noted that the split reps isn’t necessarily about competition.
“We talk about, we’re competing, but we’re not competing against each other, right. It’s not quarterback versus quarterback, it’s not offense versus defense. It’s us competing together as a team, right, to make us better. So as both of them escalate their play, right, that only escalates the play of our offense,” Kitchings said.
Both put up eerily similar, and solid, numbers in 2023. Muskett had a 62.7 percent completion rate and 82.5 NFL passer rating, throwing for 1,036 yards and six TDs, with five INTs; Colandrea had a 62.4 percent completion rate and 87.5 NFL passer rating, throwing for 1,903 yards and 12 TDs, with nine INTs.
The discrepancy in yards and TD passes is the result of Muskett having to leave two of his starts early with injuries.
Basically, they were the same guy, efficiency-wise, even as the two have their own unique skill sets and approaches – Muskett is better under pressure (83.7 NFL passer rating), Colandrea is better moving the chains with his feet (174 scramble yards, 191 rushing yards on designed runs).
Assuming Muskett maintains his hold on the QB1 spot, the ideal situation for Elliott and Kitchings would be to have him play out the year, allowing Colandrea to serve as the backup, be heavily involved in game prep each week, but be able to use 2024 as a redshirt year, leaving him with three years of eligibility to continue his development.
But as last year demonstrated, you just never know in football, and per Kitchings, Colandrea came back from the spring and summer ready to go if his number is called.
“Physically, you see he’s over 185, so that, you know, he’s got more padding in his shoulders and his hips and his butt, which is good. And I just see him being smarter with the football, right,” Kitchings said. “He’s going to make a wild play. We got to eliminate the oh, crap play, right, from that standpoint, and balancing that out, right. And that’s what I’m seeing him from him these first three days, you know, taking good care of the football, which is a big point of emphasis for us all on offense, and just, you know, hey, your objective is just to move us down the field and put points on the board, right. It could be ugly, it could be pretty, but let’s just get it done.”
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Chris Graham
