UVA Football: Tony Elliott has a decision to make as to who starts at QB

I’m thinking it’s obvious that UVA Football coach Tony Elliott is going to need to make a change at QB, but for the moment, Elliott is noncommittal.

“I told AC that, man, it wasn’t anything that was final. It was just, man, we’re struggling on offense, and we needed to find, see if we could find, find a spark, and I think it was, you know, at that time, the right thing to do,” Elliott said after his team’s 35-14 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday, in which his starting QB, Anthony Colandrea, threw three first half INTs.

Elliott benched Colandrea at halftime in favor of last year’s opening week starter, Tony Muskett, who led Virginia on a pair of second half scoring drives without turning the ball over.

Colandrea, in his last three outings, is 40-of-73 through the air for 368 yards, one TD and seven INTs.

Muskett, in three relief appearances, at the end of the blowout losses to Clemson, UNC and Notre Dame, is 23-of-34 passing for 347 yards, three TDs and no INTs.

Virginia has lost four of its last five to turn a 4-1 start into a 5-5 record going into its final two games, at home this coming Saturday with #12 SMU, and on the road on Nov. 30 at rival Virginia Tech.

“We got two games left, right. We got Senior Day coming up in Scott Stadium, that’s extremely important. And then we got an opportunity to play in a rivalry game in the last game. And man, we’re fighting, you know, we’re scrapping for postseason play. You know, that’s been a huge goal of ours as a team, and so we’re going to look at whatever gives us the best opportunity,” Elliott said.

In the immediate aftermath of the ugly loss at Notre Dame, all Elliott could commit to was, “we’ll go back, we’ll look at the tape, we’ll evaluate it, we’ll discuss it as a staff before we make any decisions going forward.”

“I’m still a huge fan of AC, and I hate it because, you know, it’s, it’s one of those situations where, here we are, you know, trying to find a spark on offense, but I know he’s a competitor, and he’ll compete, and he’ll take ownership, just as everybody in that locker room,” Elliott said. “Because it wasn’t just AC, you know, sort of focusing on AC, but we had other turnovers and then other plays in the game, you know, where, where all of us are going to want back. So, I mean, we got to take a look at everything, just to help this football team and these young men pick themselves up off the ground the right way and show back up on Monday ready to work.”