CBS Sports Names The Biggest Impact Transfer For UVA Football In 2025

2025 is viewed a bowl game or bust type of season for Virginia Football. Heading into Tony Elliott's fourth season in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers have yet to make a bowl game, but they have brought in a large transfer class and have one of the ACC's most favorable schedules. If things don't align this year, when will they for this coaching staff.

One of the biggest changes that Virginia made was at quarterback. Gone is Anthony Colandrea and incoming North Texas transfer Chandler Morris is the presumed starter in Charlottesville. Morris began his career at Oklahoma and at a brief stint at TCU as well before becoming the starter for the Mean Green last season. While Morris will almost certainly be the starter, will he be the biggest impact transfer for Virginia? CBS Sports Will Backus named the biggest impact transfer for every ACC team and Morris was the selection for Virginia:

"Morris has been around the block. He initially signed with Oklahoma in 2020, transferred to TCU in 2021 and then landed at North Texas, where he enjoyed the best year of his career, in 2024. Morris was a second-team All-AAC selection after throwing for 3,774 yards and 28 touchdowns."

There is a chance that Morris could in fact be a huge upgrade at the position, but he only has one real season to show for it. Morris only played in five total games during his lone season with Oklahoma and then transferred to TCU. He played in four games for the Horned Frogs in 2021, including a standout performance in an upset win over No. 12 Baylor. Morris was 29-41 for 461 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

He would battle an injury that would limit his playing time in both 2022 (when the Horner Frogs made an appearance in the national championship game) and then in 2023, when he only played in seven games. Morris threw for 1,532 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 66% of his passes. He would then transfer to North Texas, where he would have the most productive season of his collegiate career.

For the Mean Green last season, Morris threw for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 63.1% of his passes. He also had 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns. According to PFF, Morris finished as the highest-grade player on the North Texas offense with 78.9 grade in 887 total snaps at quarterback.

It comes down to if 1) Morris can stay healthy and 2) Was his production a product of the kind of teams he was facing on the field last season? I would argue that when he was healthy at TCU, he did have games where he put up big numbers, so last season might not have just been a product of facing weak defenses. Morris has more experience and has been more productive than either Colandrea or Tony Muskett. If Morris is the biggest impact transfer for UVA, that is a good sign for their hopes of making a bowl game.