Elliott names Muskett starting QB for opener at Tennessee

Countdown to UVA-Tennessee

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Muskett will be Virginia’s starting quarterback when the Cavaliers open the season at Tennessee.

Coach Tony Elliott made that announcement after Monday’s practice, following the team’s second intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday. Muskett, a senior transfer from Monmouth, beat out true freshman Anthony Colandrea for the job. Colandrea had been “pushing” Muskett during training camp, Elliott said after the first scrimmage a week ago.

“Tony had a great week last week and I challenged him to show me some of the true leadership things that I had noticed he has,” Elliott said. “He was a lot more vocal, took a lot more command of it and then played well in the scrimmage.”

Elliott pointed out that both quarterbacks battled hard in camp, but that Muskett’s performance going down the stretch weighed heavily in the evaluation. Most observers had speculated that there was no way Virginia was about to throw a freshman into the fire in an environment like Tennessee to start the season.

The Vols have been established as a 28-point favorite.