UVA Football Adds Colorado Running Back Transfer Isaiah Augustave

A 6'2", 210-pound running back from Naples, Florida, Augustave was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, a top 30 running back in his class, and top 250 overall prospect in the country. Augustave began his collegiate career at Arkansas, where he played in 11 games as a true freshman, finishing with 202 rushing yards and one touchdown on 35 carries. Included in those 11 games were a 101-yard rushing effort against FIU and then his first start in the regular season finale against Missouri, a game in which he scored his first career touchdown.

Augustave then entered the transfer portal and wound up committing to Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes. He played in 11 games and made six starts in 2024, leading Colorado in rushing yards with 394 yards and four touchdowns on 85 carries. In a week 8 game against Cincinnati in which Augustave rushed 22 times for 91 yards and a touchdown, he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Augustave averaged 4.5 yards per carry last season and had four games in which he averaged better than five yards per carry.

In case you missed this week's headlines, it would appear that Isaiah Augustave was the player Deion Sanders was referencing when he accused Virginia of tampering in a viral video. After a Colorado practice last Thursday, Sanders called out Virginia for having offered one of his players, junior defensive back Carter Stoutmire, a large sum of NIL money to enter the transfer portal. Sanders then looked directly into a camera and said, "Virginia, you gotta stop. I let you have one. I ain't say nothing about it. Come on now. Come on. We let you have one. I ain't say nothing about it."

It would appear that the player Sanders was referencing when he said, "I let you have one", was Isaiah Augustave, who visited UVA last week. Whether Virginia indeed contacted Augustave before he entered the portal is unconfirmed, but the Cavaliers have indeed poached him from Deion Sanders and the Buffs to reinforce their running back room.

With Isaiah Augustave coming to Virginia, the Cavaliers now have three quality options in their running back unit as Augustave joins North Carolina Central transfer J'Mari Taylor, who racked up more than 2,500 yards from scrimmage and 32 total touchdowns in 38 total games, including a 1,146-yard rushing season in 2024 and returning senior Xavier Brown, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry and finished with 488 rushing yards and one rushing score on 80 carries as well as nine receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns last season at Virginia.

Isaiah Augustave is the second transfer Virginia has picked up this offseason, joining Cincinnati cornerback transfer Jordan Robinson, who committed to the Cavaliers on Friday.