Colandrea Named ACC Rookie of the Week

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea was named ACC Rookie of the Week, announced by the league office on Monday (Sept. 11). The first-year signal caller is UVA’s first Rookie of the Week Award winner since the 2020 season when Lavel Davis Jr. won it twice.

In his first collegiate start, Colandrea was 20-for-26 with 377 yards and two touchdowns, all single-game UVA freshman records. His 377 passing yards are the eighth-most in a single game of any FBS quarterback through the first three weeks of the season and the most by any FBS freshman quarterback in 2023.

The two touchdown passes matched the school mark for a freshman held by Jameel Sewell (2006) and Scott Gardner who did it twice in 1972. Colandrea’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Pace on the first play of the second half was the longest ever by a UVA freshman quarterback (Previous: Todd Kirtley, 73-yard TD pass vs. NC State in 1978). The 75-yard completion was the longest by the Cavaliers since 2021. The pass also eclipsed UVA’s single-game passing record by a freshman (previous: 243 by Jameel Sewell vs. Maryland in 2006).