UVA lands big passing arm in North Texas QB Morris

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Chandler Morris, who finished fourth in the nation with 31 touchdown passes and almost 4,000 yards through the air for North Texas, has committed to Virginia.

Morris, who has one year of eligibility remaining, is the second quarterback in two days to commit to the Cavaliers. UVA will be Morris’ fourth school, having previously played at Oklahoma, TCU and North Texas. Virginia gained a commitment from former Nebraska quarterback Daniel Kaelin on Sunday, one of three players that committed to Tony Elliott’s program out of the transfer portal (see related story on this site).

In addition to Morris, UVA also received a commitment from Fresno State defensive lineman Jacob Holmes on Monday. Holmes also has one year of eligibility remaining (more on Holmes later in this article). Also, Virginia’s first-team All-ACC safety Jonas Sanker, a native of Charlottesville, announced that he plans to enter the NFL Draft in the spring.

Morris is the son of former Clemson co-offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who shared that position with Elliott. Chad Morris worked with the Tigers from 2011-14 before becoming head coach at Arkansas and then SMU.

It was during his time at SMU when Morris’ son, Chandler, blossomed as a high school star, throwing for 4,036 yards and 46 touchdowns (only six interceptions), garnering him Under Armour All-American recognition. He committed to Oklahoma, where he played very little in 2020, passing only five times for 39 yards, prior to entering the transfer portal and moving on to TCU.

He only appeared in four games for the Horned Frogs in 2021, which allowed him to keep his redshirt, still passing for 771 yards and three touchdowns. He missed significant time in ‘22 due to an injury.

Morris’ breakout year for the Frogs came in ‘23, when he completed 65.5 percent of his passes in seven games (six starts), throwing for 1,532 yards, 12 TDs and only 5 picks. He transferred to North Texas after the season.

In leading the Mean Green this past season, he compiled 4,016 yards of total offense, second-most in North Texas history. His 3,774 passing yards were also second-most in program history, completing 63 percent of his passes (322 of 512). Morris’ 31 passing TDs were fourth nationally behind only Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Miami’s Cam Ward and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik.

With Morris and Kaelin aboard, Virginia has successfully filled its void at quarterback after Anthony Colandrea entered the transfer portal following his being benched for the last game of the season. Backup Tony Muskett exhausted his eligibility.

Defensive lineman Holmes (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) will add depth to a defensive line that lost several players via eligibility or the portal. It is a D-Line that must be rebuilt after finishing next-to-last in the ACC in QB sacks allowed with 19 and was 11th in the league in stopping the run.

That’s where Holmes can contribute. At Fresno, he had 3.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and 24 total tackles last season. Fresno was third in the Mountain West against the run.

He has 8.5 career sacks and 47 tackles. Holmes is a native of Chandler, Ariz.