Mike London on Quarterback Controversy: "They've Embraced It"

Following the Spring Game, throughout the summer, and straight through training camp, Virginia fans could say something they haven't been able to in a long, long time: UVa finally has a starting quarterback! Greyson Lambert by all accounts won the starting job, and that was the end of that. For the first time in a while, we at STL didn't have to make any hot sports takes guesses as to who would start.

But that didn't stop us from asking whether Greyson Lambert would make it through the season as starter. Turns out, we had good reason to.

During a very rocky second quarter for the Hoos, Virginia Head Coach Mike London pulled Lambert in favor of fellow redshirt sophomore Matt Johns, who would go on to throw for two touchdown drives, one of which took 0:28 to complete.

"It's interesting when you're battling with players," Mike London said on Monday, "whether it's left tackles or secondary, it's competition, but when it's the quarterback battling, they call it controversy."

But there is no controversy in the Virginia camp, London said.

"There is no dissension amongst the team...this team is unified."

In describing the quarterback situation and what he's looking at to determine who gets the start on Saturday, London said yesterday, "One young man was given the opportunity against a very competitive team, and he really succeeded in showing that he could handle, he could produce and he could execute. That doesn't preclude the other quarterback, Greyson Lambert, from growing or getting better."

Not exactly a glowing recommendation for Greyson getting the start, nor did London defend or explain Lambert's reluctance to throw downfield last Saturday:

"I can't speak to or I won't speak to why Greyson didn't throw the ball down field.  But as Matt had the opportunities that were presented, he did.  Again, you evaluate players on what they do and how they do and how they execute what's being asked."

So what are we to expect going forward? London won't be announcing his starter until Saturday, but in the meanwhile, he's allowing competition to continue in practice to see if anyone edges out the other.

"So, guys are competing in practice, and that's what we've always said, and we've said that from day one and we'll continue to keep doing that. They've embraced it, and now our focus is to keep getting ready for a very good Richmond team."

Sounds familiar, right? I bet former Virginia, and now Richmond, quarterbacks Michael Strauss and Michael Rocco remember that fondly, as Strauss was quoted as saying last month, "It's not an ideal situation over there, how they've handled their quarterbacks. I don't think they've handled it the right way."

Keep your eyes peeled on how this plays out. We leave you with this quote from Mike London on Monday, something we'll keep in mind.

"We talked about holding everyone, including myself, accountable for the production that's out on the field. Whatever position it is, all of us are held to [accountable] standards that we're looking for. Myself to the administrators and University..."