CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Trell Harris has seen new Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris’s dynamic playmaking skills in practice and through the team’s first month of games. 

Harris has watched the North Texas transfer make big-time throws on the run and launch deep balls like he’s flipping crumpled paper into a nearby waste basket. 

In fact, there may only be one thing Harris hasn’t seen from Morris since the two became UVA teammates in the spring.

“I don’t know if I’ve really seen him yell,” Harris said. “He’s calm. A little old head, so he’s calm. Keeps the offense calm and we just ride with him.”

Saturday, the Cavaliers rode Morris’s poise, passing and rushing to a 48-20 demolition of visiting Stanford in their ACC opener.

It was UVA’s third straight game posting over 500 yards of total offense.

Morris finished 23 for 31 for 380 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a fifth score. 

On the season, he’s completed 70.8% of his throws, tossing eight scoring strikes with just one interception. 

“He’s just got an uncanny ability to get the ball out, get it out quick , different arm angles,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said. “He just has a natural knack for that. … He’s just got a sense about him. He can feel things.”

The son of a former SMU and Arkansas coach, Morris has known Elliott since he was a young boy when Elliott and Morris’s father were together on the staff at Clemson.

But while it’s easy to praise Morris for his football IQ, game-management skills and poise, that description would sell his talent short.

Morris may not possess all the over-the-top razzle of recent stars at the position, including Bryce Perkins and Brennan Armstrong. But he still is capable of dazzling with his playmaking ability.

Saturday, he showed off his ability to throw on the run, extend plays by eluding the rush and deliver strikes from the pocket.

“I think everybody knows what kind of player Chandler is,” Harris said after catching three touchdown passes from Morris, including a 75-yarder. “I think he’s showed it every single week. For us, it’s no surprise.”

Morris’s celebration of touchdowns is muted, simply jogging down the field to join teammates or pointing to the fans. His reaction to miscues is similarly understated. When offensive coordinator Des Kitchings – who is in the midst of a mind-boggling heater as the ‘Hoos play-caller – dialed up a flea flicker on the team’s first play, pressure prevented Morris from getting the ball over the top to Harris. 

As he lay on his belly looking up at the video board, watching the pass fall incomplete, Morris didn’t slam his hand into the turf in frustration or bark at his offensive line. He picked himself up, went on to lead a scoring drive and completed his next 11 throws.

Not that he didn’t regret the moment.

When asked about his breakout performance after the win, it was the first thing Morris mentioned.

“Honestly, we should have scored the first play,” Morris lamented. “But I didn’t get the ball out quick enough.”

The best example of his resilience has come since the only real blemish on his UVA resume – a red-zone interception in the end zone that killed Virginia’s chances of a last-second win at North Carolina State. 

Since then? He’s directed an attack that has scored 13 touchdowns and racked up 1,290 yards in two games. 

Morris has Virginia off to a 3-1 start going into Friday night’s showdown with Florida State. The last time the Seminoles visited Scott Stadium, UVA won 31-24 on its way to an ACC Coastal Division title. 

When Morris, who started his career at Oklahoma and TCU before starring last season at North Texas, transferred to Virginia, he listed winning a conference title as one of his reasons for the move. 

He can take a big step toward that goal Friday. And if he gets it done, it might just be enough to get him to yell.