Virginia freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea made his first road start Friday against the Maryland Terrapins. Despite starter Tony Muskett warming up during pre-game, the coaches decided to go with Colandrea. Muskett nursed a shoulder injury from two games ago against Tennessee.
Colandrea had a promising collegiate debut against James Madison the week before. But, his start against Maryland went from great to bad in a heap. Colandrea threw for 263 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions en route to a 42-14 loss to the Terrapins.
Anthony Colandrea had his highs through the first three quarters. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 251 yards. His touchdown pass started with him rolling left before he looked across his body and lobbed the ball to running back Kobe Pace for the 19-yard score. The Virginia touchdown put heavily favored Maryland in a 14-0 hole for the second straight week.
Colandrea tried getting the ball out of his hands early, relying on short passes. When he tried to go intermediate, he overthrew his receivers. Yet, Colandrea was very mobile, rolling out of the pocket to get clear passing lanes.
Everything unraveled in the fourth quarter for Anthony Colandrea
His efforts kept the Wahoos in the game. But Maryland rallied to take a 21-14 lead entering the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, that’s when disaster struck for Colandrea.
He opened the quarter with interceptions on three consecutive passes.
The first interception occurred with the Cavaliers in the red zone. On the drive, he finished with three straight incompletions with the third resulting in a pick. He rolled to his right, underthrowing his intended receiver right into the hands of Maryland cornerback Tarheeb Still in the end zone.
Maryland’s offense responded with a touchdown that extended their lead to 28-14.
On the first play of Virginia’s next offensive drive, Terrapins defensive end Donnell Brown read Colandrea’s eyes, got his hands on the pass, bobbling the ball three times before hauling in the interception at Virginia’s 30-yard line.
Maryland’s offense capitalized on the short field with a touchdown in three plays. The score busted the game wide open, extending the Terrapins’ lead to 35-14.
Unfortunately, Colandrea was not finish gifting Maryland the ball. Two plays in Virginia’s next drive, Still undercut Colandrea’s pass for another interception. Three throws, three picks for Colandrea.
Maryland put a bow on the game with another touchdown. The Terrapins scored 21 points off Colandrea’s three interceptions.
Despite the interceptions, Colandrea showed his potential. He has to hone his gunslinger mentality and become more accurate on his intermediate throws.
Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott said Muskett was only available against Maryland in an “emergency situation,” giving him another week to heal.
Elliott expressed starting Colandrea was best for Virginia long-term. There’s no official word on which quarterback will start Friday when Virginia hosts North Carolina State at Scott Stadium.
