White Wins Virginia Spring Game

The Virginia football team wrapped up its spring practices with the annual Blue-White Spring Game on Saturday at Scott Stadium. The scrimmage went down to the wire with White finally sealing a 34-19 victory on a 98-yard interception return in the closing minute.

Saturday afternoon showcased some new faces emerging for the Hoos, but also the inspiring return of running back Mike Hollins. The Cavaliers took the field in front of fans for the first time since last November’s tragic shooting that took the lives of Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry, and Devin Chandler and wounded Hollins and another student Marlee Morgan. Hollins, who in the early days of a hospital stay was not sure if or when he could play football again, logged 11 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown that left teammates in any color jersey feeling emotional.

After the scoring play into the end zone painted in memory of the fallen trio and a celebration with teammates, Hollins put the ball down on Perry’s name and tapped his name twice before a kiss and final pat to the ground.

“It’s amazing man,” Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett said. “I’m not a doctor or a nurse or anything like that, but I don’t know how his recovery was that quick. That’s tremendous and a credit to him because he’s one of the hardest working people you’ll ever meet in your life. Like I said, he’s the closest guy to me in the locker room where I sit wise and just seeing him walk in every day and how he interacts with everybody and how mature and how grown up he is, man it’s an inspiration because he has so many eyes on him and so many people that he inspires, just seeing how he handles it, the strength that he’s displayed, it’s awesome to see and it does truly inspire me every day.”

“That’s what it is all about,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “When I saw that we got down there a couple of times, I called Deuce [his brother] over and there’s not going to be too many other times when he’s going to have the chance to see his brother score from that vantage point. … You wanted Mike to be able to experience that moment with Deuce because Deuce has been here all week and really been an inspiration to us to see him around practice every single day and just the guys really rallying around Mike and he.”

“It brought chills,” UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said. “To be a part of what took place and to see his progression daily, seeing how the guys have rallied around him as a team. Early in spring, he didn’t practice then started to practice then no contact then he wanted to get contact so we integrated him in and he just kept building and building throughout the spring. To culminate it the way he did today, it’s like a script that’s written out. It’s awesome.”

Even beyond Hollins’ play, the game did feature some of the spirit and energy repeatedly mentioned by players and coaches this spring. There was plenty of joy on display during the day. Receiver JR Wilson did a snow angel in the end zone after a touchdown. The sideline hugged and celebrated with Micah Gaffney after an interception. The White team went crazy for quarterback Davis Lane Jr. when he made a tackle on a special teams return.

Those examples all featured some new names in the spotlight for Virginia, which provided a bit of a theme for the day. Wilson had 4 catches for 87 yards, including that 68-yard touchdown reception. Lane scored a 35-yard touchdown run later at quarterback. Jack Griese logged 12 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown for the White team too. White finished with 326 yards of total offense.

For the Blue team, which posted 378 yards of total offense, a lot of young players made some plays too. Freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea completed 18 of 29 passes for 218 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Sophomore receiver Eli Wood made 4 receptions for 76 yards and just dropped a touchdown catch from Colandrea when the ball popped free in the end zone as he tried to secure the catch while going to the ground. Freshman receiver Jaden Gibson had 2 catches for 18 yars, including a touchdown. Sophomore running back Xavier Brown recorded 11 carries for 60 yards, while sophomore quarterback Grady Brosterhous had a 49-yard run as well.

Defensively, the theme of players taking advantage of new opportunities held true too. Sophomore linebacker Trey McDonald led the Blue team with 10 tackles, while sophomore linebacker Stevie Bracey had 8 tackles to tie Gaffney for the White team lead. White team corner William Simpkins III had 6 tackles as well. Lex Long (Blue), Aidan Ryan (White), and Dave Herard (White) each had 5 tackles, while Ant Fisher (Blue) added 4 more. John Hurley had the 98-yard interception return that sealed the win.

“I’ve said it for a while about Ant [Colandrea], he’s a ball player. … Trey McDonald’s been making plays all spring so it’s been really good for him with [Josh] Ahern not being able to practice to get all of those reps, same thing with Stevie Bracey,” Elliott said. “It was fun just to see guys get out there and compete and I’m anxious to watch the tape because then you’ll get to see probably some that I missed. … There’s so much you can get out of a Spring Game and I’m grateful that we were in a position to be able to split the teams evenly and actually play a true first half of the game and then kind of a modified second half.”

None of that even mentions transfers Cam’Ron Kelly , Malik Washington, and Muskett. Kelly had a fumble recovery for the Blue team, while Washington had a big kickoff return and 2 catches for 20 yards for the White team. Muskett, a quarterback transfer from Monmouth, seemed poised and under control for his debut in front of Cavalier fans. He took what the defense allowed on many occasions with short, on-target passes but also mixed in the deep completion to Wilson and a couple of strong runs with his legs despite wearing the orange no-tackling jersey.

In the end, Muskett completed 11 of 14 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown and he added 28 yards rushing too. That 78.6% completion rate matches what Kitchings said had been the trend for Muskett during the spring.

Muskett, who praised the team’s energy this spring, said the offense has skilled players and ability that showed flashes in the game and throughout the practices the last several weeks. There are things to work on and consistency to chase, but he said his first semester with the program has shown important growth as the team prepares for the fall schedule.

“Honestly I think this spring has been amazing for our offensive group,” Muskett said. “You saw a glimpse of it today, guys are flying around, we’re having fun. … Just the growth, especially with the offensive line. They’re blocking tremendously. I had all day back there today. Practice, I’ve been clean. The run game, as you saw late in the second half, they’re playing extremely well. When you’ve got guys like JR, Malachi [Fields], Malik, all those guys are stepping up making huge plays, you see the offense produce and that’s what it’s been all spring. It’s been awesome to be around. We still need to expect to push the envelope because like I said it’s only April and we don’t play until September. We’ve got a few months here where we’ve got to lock in.”