As of Thursday, the countdown to the Virginia Cavaliers opening kickoff against Coastal Carolina has reached 23 days! While we await the start of the season, Streaking the Lawn will take you through each of the position groups on the roster. We will start as anyone would – with the quarterbacks.

Last season, UVA’s production at the quarterback position fell well short of rather high expectations. Anthony Colandrea played a majority of the season, completing 61.9% of his passes for 2,125 yards (6.6 YPA), throwing for 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while adding 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. For the season finale against Virginia Tech, the underclassman was benched in favor of veteran Tony Muskett, who was unable to get the job done either.

Going into the offseason, both quarterbacks departed, with Muskett running out of eligibility while Colandrea moved on to a new opportunity at UNLV. This year’s crop of signal-callers looks a lot more enticing, though.

We are more than likely to see Chandler Morris break the opening huddle against Coastal. At an even 6-foot-0, 192 pounds, Morris brings enough size to the table, something that certainly held Colandrea back. More importantly, the North Texas transfer was one of the more productive quarterbacks in the Group of Five last season, earning second team all-AAC honors. Previously, Morris has played as a backup for successful teams at TCU and Oklahoma. This includes a 531-yard, 3-touchdown performance in a spot start against No. 12 Baylor in 2021. Ultimately, Morris is a winner and will bring that pedigree to the Virginia program.

As a passer, Morris is unafraid to take risks to push the ball downfield, but is not particularly known to be reckless. His 2024 numbers tell quite the tale – 3,774 passing yards and 31 touchdowns to go along with 12 interceptions. Keep in mind that he did throw the ball 510 times, the third most nationally. Given what we know about offensive coordinator Des Kitchings’ tendencies, plus the emphasis on adding running backs in the portal, we can expect Virginia’s offense to be more balanced than that.

In the rushing department, Morris compiled 242 yards and four house calls at North Texas. While he is a willing runner, he prefers to sit back in the pocket and work through progressions.

The ceiling of this team largely relies on how well Morris translates from the American to the ACC. Factoring in Virginia’s relatively weak schedule, plus several years of experience in the Big 12, he certainly has a big season in him.

The offensive staff also brought in Nebraska transfer Danny Kaelin this offseason. The current plan is to have Kaelin sit behind Morris for a season before potentially taking over the starting job.

Kaelin did not see any snaps for the Cornhuskers in his lone redshirt season, so it would be pivotal if the ‘Hoos can afford to give him a few drives here and there before they would have to throw him into the fire. I look at the Week 3 matchup against William & Mary as a major opportunity in that respect.

From the tape we do have, Kaelin’s prototype appears to be similar to Morris – a downfield passer with good pocket presence but not someone who is intent on tucking and running the ball. Kaelin also offers a larger frame at 6-foot-3, 220-pounds.

Senior Grady Brosterhous returns as the third option on the depth chart. It is unclear whether the Cavaliers will feature him in short yardage situations again. The “Grady Bunch” package was vastly successful last year, but the Kitchings seemed to shy away from it as the year progressed.

At the back end of the quarterback room lies freshmen Cole Geer and Bjorn Jergunson. Geer comes from Massachusetts and is regarded as one of the more accurate passers in his class. Jergunsen, more of the running quarterback of the duo, brings his talent to Grounds by way of the Sunshine State.

Stay tuned for our breakdown of the rest of the position groups at Streaking the Lawn!