By Jerry Ratcliffe
Quarterback Chandler Morris’ playing status for Virginia’s game at Duke on Saturday remains up in the air.
Tony Elliott said in his presser on Tuesday that Morris did not practice Monday, but did attend. Morris wasn’t expected to practice Tuesday afternoon either, but the coach said he hoped to have his starting quarterback participating in Wednesday’s practice.
Morris was injured in Saturday night’s 16-9 loss to underdog Wake Forest, when two Demon Deacon defenders hit the sliding Morris on the ground. Virginia fans thought it was a case of targeting, but officials both in Charlottesville and at the ACC office in Charlotte, monitoring the game, only enforced a personal foul penalty.
No one has confirmed whether Morris suffered a concussion. Elliott framed it as an upper body injury in addition to a pre-existing shoulder injury suffered in the season opener.
Elliott added that hopefully Morris can practice Wednesday and “get two good days of practice in and be available for service on Saturday.”
UVA (8-2, 5-1), travels to Duke (5-4, 4-1) for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff (ESPN2). The host Blue Devils are a 6.5-point favorite.
Because Morris is a sixth-year player, could he miss a full week of practice and just show up to play Saturday?
“I think there’s so much with the gameplan that you need, plus you need to practice and be able to take some of those reps,” Elliott said. “[Morris’] position is about timing, so we would need him to get into practice.
“Is he a veteran guy that’s played enough football that you could say, okay, he could play? Yes, but will his precision and his timing be there if he doesn’t practice? So we’re hopeful that by [Wednesday], we’ll have him back in practice, ready to rock and roll.”
Most likely, Duke will prepare for both Virginia quarterbacks, Morris and redshirt freshman backup Daniel Kaelin.
Kaelin replaced Morris against Wake and completed 18 of 28 pass attempts for 145 yards. He was sacked twice, both leading to fumbles and scoring opportunities for the Deacs. Kaelin also rushed six times for 61 yards (net 49), including a 54-yard run. He was under constant attack from a stout Wake defense.
“I thought [Kaelin] had probably two plays (the fumbles) where he probably wants back,” Elliott said. “Other than that, I think we put him in a tough spot down there on the goal line. It was a deal where we were trying to disguise a little bit, but there was a pass option on it. Looking back, you probably say, OK, don’t put the young quarterback in that situation.
“Just shift it back in and go with the actual play call. So that really wasn’t on him. And then, I thought he made the throws that were there. I thought he handled it as good as he could.”
In terms of other injuries, Elliott said that Noah Vaughn, Jayden Thomas, David Wohlabaugh and Kevin Wigenton could be back for Virginia’s regular-season finale against Virginia Tech on Nov. 29. See the full depth chart below.
