‘Superhero’ Muskett inspires teammates, fighting off pain and throwing for TDs

By Jerry Ratcliffe

With 12 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in Saturday’s game, and with Virginia nursing a 20-13 lead over visiting William & Mary, quarterback Tony Muskett went down. The UVA field general had just given up his body for a crucial first down.

Facing a fourth-and-4 at the W&M 36, the Cavaliers desperately needed to move the chains and take control of the game. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings called for an empty backfield out of the shotgun formation, meaning Muskett had little protection.

Muskett saw daylight in front of him and didn’t hesitate. He took off and gained the four yards needed for a first down, but the quarterback aggravated a shoulder injury that had kept him out of three games earlier in the season. Immediately, Wahoo fans wondered what might happen as Muskett headed to the medical tent on the sideline.

Would UVA’s coaches insert true freshman Anthony Colandrea, who had impressively started the three games at quarterback when Muskett was injured in the opener against Tennessee? After all, Colandrea had appeared in four games, and if he played in a fifth, his potential redshirt status would be kaput.

Instead, Virginia inserted reserve quarterback Grady Brosterhous, a sophomore from Weddington, N.C. The Cavaliers had used Brosterhous four plays before Muskett’s injury, putting him in for a quarterback sneak on a fourth-and-one at W&M’s 44.

It was a significant move for a couple of reasons. One, because he took the snap from under center, appeasing the pleas from UVA fans who were tired of watching the offense fail in short-yardage situations from the shotgun formation. Two, Kitchings was protecting Muskett from possibly getting injured in such a scenario, and had been giving Brosterhous practice reps on the sneak play all week.

Obviously, Tony Elliott and Kitchings were elated when Muskett emerged from the tent and missed only one play before reentering the game.

On the very next play, Muskett connected with the ACC’s leading receiver, Malik Washington, on a 27-yard touchdown strike. Virginia was comfortably ahead, 27-13, with 11:11 to play, and that provided confidence to a team that had been plagued with fourth-quarter implosions. Coming into Saturday, UVA had been outscored 56-11 in the collective final periods.

This time, it would be different. This time, John Rudzinski’s defense stopped the Tribe on a fourth-down gamble for the second time in the game, allowing Muskett to milk the remaining 4:45 off the clock with a successful running attack.

Yes, a successful running attack. UVA used 10 consecutive runs, including Perris Jones, who ripped off 43 of his career-high 134 yards on the final possession. The Cavaliers’ 221 rushing yards were the most since a 229-yard effort against ODU last season.

All of this, naturally, led to a win, snapping the nation’s second-longest losing drought at eight games. Virginia didn’t fold in the fourth quarter and Muskett finished the game, his second straight 200-yard passing game (17 for 26, 232 yards, two passing TDs and one rushing). After a poor second half last week at Boston College, Muskett finished fairly strong and lived to fight another day.

“This is a guy that’s playing with a shoulder injury,” Elliott said in postgame. “He’s persevered. He’s given everything that he has. He’s running the football, right? He’s trying to win the game.

“I think you saw just how tough and how much he cares about this football team. What a competitor he is. That fourth down, he reached for it and felt something in the shoulder. He came out for a play and we were trying to figure out the severity of it, because we’ve got a young quarterback there that’s played four games. You don’t want to burn a year from one play, right?”

Had team doctors determined that Muskett couldn’t have returned to the game, Elliott said they would have gone with Colandrea. However, as it stands, the plan is to redshirt Colandrea the remainder of the season unless Muskett gets injured.

Muskett was beaming over the win when he met with media after the game and blew off the scary moment when he headed to the tent.

“You know, it’s just a little shoulder injury,” the quarterback said. “Anything I can do to get out there and put it on the line for my brothers and all the people that came through [the program], being alumni weekend, I’m going to do that because I truly want us to succeed.”

Having an effective running game helped take some pressure off Muskett, but he was still hit more than Elliott and Kitchings preferred. He was sacked four times by a strong William & Mary pass rush that featured linebacker John Pius and defensive end Nate Lynn, two players who Muskett believes will be playing on Sundays in the future.

Even being under duress for a portion of the game, Muskett did a good job of finding open receivers, targeting Washington 10 times, connecting on 7 for 112 yards and a score, and targeting Malachi Fields 6 times, connecting on 4 for 63 yards, including a perfectly thrown 26-yard TD.

Equally impressive was how Muskett kept the chains moving in the fourth quarter, producing the lone touchdown by either team after halftime. UVA had lost three games by a total of seven points, having blown double-digit leads in all three.

“That was a huge point of emphasis this week, finishing the fourth” Muskett said. “I think we did that today.”

Muskett’s toughness and leadership was inspiring to his teammates throughout the game, especially coming out of the tent, returning to the field and throwing the touchdown that iced the win.

“I mean, he’s the captain of our ship,” said Jones, who averaged over 11 yards per carry on the day. “For him to be playing through so much pain and adversity and to lay his body on the line like he did on fourth down and scrambling out of the pocket. It’s hard not to give everything you have for a guy doing that, battling through so much.

“So he’s really a superhero and driving the ship. I will follow that man.”