UVA gets Deion’s leading rusher through portal

By Jerry Ratcliffe

So, now we know the player that Colorado coach Deion Sanders was talking about when he stopped practice last week, turned to cameras and accused Virginia of tampering with his program.

Isaiah Augustave, who led Colorado in rushing last season, visited UVA last week, and on Easter Sunday, committed to Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers.

Apparently, when Virginia reached out to another Colorado player (defensive back Carter Stoutmire) in the same week, Sanders was so perturbed that he called out the Cavaliers for the whole football nation to see.

“Carter got offered a bag,” Sanders said on camera, while his team surrounded him. Sanders looked at Stoutmire and said, “What’s the school that offered you the bag? Virginia. Where my camera at? Virginia you got to stop. I’ll let you have one. I ain’t saying nothing about it. Come on, now. Come on. We let you have one. I ain’t say nothing about it.”

Augustave’s visit to UVA last Thursday was the same day Sanders went on his rant.

Whatever the case, Virginia walked away with a boost to its offensive backfield with Augustave, originally from Naples, Fla., where he was a 4-star prospect out of high school and ranked the No. 19 running back in the country in the recruiting class of 2023.

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound back has two years of eligibility remaining and strengthens the Cavaliers’ running back room, which includes Xavier Brown and transfer J’Mari Taylor from NC Central. Brown rushed for 488 yards last season and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. Taylor amassed 2,500 yards and 32 TDs during his 38-game career at Central, including 1,146 yards last season.

Augustave led the heavy pass-oriented Colorado offense in rushing last season with 384 yards, 4 TDs, in 11 games (six starts). He also had 9 receptions for 53 yards. He averaged 4.5 yards per attempt rushing, and posted 91 yards against Cincinnati.

Augustave played at Colorado for two seasons, but started his career at Arkansas, where as a true freshman, he rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown in 25 attempts.