Anthony Colandrea, Virginia set to battle in-state rival Richmond

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea will lead the Virginia offense in Saturday’s season opener against the visiting Richmond Spiders in Charlottesville, Va.

Third-year Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott named Colandrea the starter last weekend after an offseason battle with fifth-year senior Tony Muskett.

“It was an extremely tough decision,” Elliott said after practice Monday. “It was a heck of a battle, one of the best position battles that I’ve been around in my career. Both young men fought extremely hard, brought their best every single day. It really came down to this fall camp.”

Colandrea set single-season Virginia freshman records for completions (154), passing yards (1,958) and touchdown passes (13) in 2023. His yardage total topped all Power 5 true freshmen. Muskett threw for 1,031 yards and six TDs last season.

A similar position battle apparently is still being decided in the state capital, with Richmond coach Russ Huesman declining to name Kyle Wickersham or Camden Coleman as QB1 for the FCS program.

“Both of them are excellent players. We’ll probably name a starter in-house here in the next day or so,” Huesman said on Monday in his weekly conference call with the media.

“Will that get public? Who knows? I doubt it. I know everybody’s excited about knowing that, but they’ve both done a tremendous job, and I feel confident in either one of them.”

Wickersham completed 72.6 percent of his passes for 1,405 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions and ran for 402 yards in 11 games last season. Coleman played in seven games and completed 66.7 percent of his attempts for 1,161 yards, 12 TDs and six picks. Six of his TD passes came in a win against Maine.

The Spiders advanced to the FCS playoffs for the second straight season in 2023, finishing 9-4 after an 0-2 start.

The Cavaliers endured their second straight three-win campaign under Elliott (6-16) in 2023 and have not been to a bowl game since the 2019 season.

Virginia opened the 2022 season with a 34-17 victory against Richmond in the most recent meeting. The Cavaliers lead the series 30-3-2, with the Spiders’ last win coming in 2016.

–Field Level Media