3 burning questions surrounding Virginia's quarterback room entering fall camp

With Tony Elliott officially naming Beau Pribula as the starter at quarterback heading into 2026, UVA fans can move on to some of the other pressing questions that they have about the position group.

Let's dive right into three of the biggest question marks for the quarterback room heading into fall camp, which begins in about a week and a half.

How will Virginia take advantage of Beau Pribula's skillset?

Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Beau Pribula (7) evades the pass rush from defensive end Matthew Fobbs-White (16). — Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Beau Pribula (7) evades the pass rush from defensive end Matthew Fobbs-White (16) at Virginia's Spring Game at Scott Stadium April 18. | Courtesy Virginia Athletics

UVA OC Des Kitchings has been doing an excellent job of tailoring the team's offense to the strengths of the quarterback. We began to see it in 2024 with Anthony Colandrea at the helm, and then last season with Chandler Morris, which resulted in an offensive explosion leading to an 11-3 record and an appearance in the ACC Championship game.

It's going to be really interesting to see if the offense is centered around larger personnel packages in camp, with Pribula in the backfield with both Peyton Lewis and Jekail Middlebrook. If so, this could lead to many different option variations and QB counter-type plays for Pribula to kill defenses with his legs.

Chandler Morris did a little bit of it last season, but with the amount of talent that the Cavaliers have in the backfield, as well as unproven talent at wide receiver, it could force Coach Kitchings to create an even more run-centric offense this season. I'm not saying that we're going to see UVA run Navy's triple-option offense, but Pribula averaging 8+ designed runs per game shouldn't be surprising at all.

It's obvious that Pribula isn't a natural drop-back passer, so Kitchings and Co. are going to have to experiment a little bit in fall camp.

Who establishes themself as the full-time backup in 2026?

Yes, Eli Holstein "should" be the answer here, but Cole Geer isn't completely out of the question. Not only was Geer very impressive throughout the spring, but he was also the backup for the spring game.

That could be taken with a grain of salt, but coaches don't usually rave about a quarterback unless they're legitimately standing out.

Can Beau Pribula cut down on turnover-worthy throws?

One of Pribula's biggest downfalls at Missouri was his propensity to make bad decisions under pressure. He absolutely has to get past that in camp and learn to either throw the ball away or tuck it and run.

A 1-yard gain is better than chucking the ball downfield as he's about to get hit, leading to an interception or throwing into double-coverage.

The "good" thing is that he really only makes these types of decisions when he has pressure in his face, which is something he was used to at Missouri. UVA has one of the best offensive lines in the country heading into 2026, so this type of thing could naturally fix itself from a frequency standpoint in Charlottesville.

With that being said, Pribula still has to know that he can't throw the ball into double coverage when he's being chased around in crucial situations. If I were Virginia's coaching staff, I'd be doing everything possible to bring pressure in camp, forcing Beau to adjust, step up, and make more efficient dump-off-type throws to his running backs.

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