Virginia Football Notes: Emotional Return To Scott Stadium

By: Kris Wright |

The Virginia football team’s return to Scott Stadium for its first live game action in front of fans since last November proved emotional. Three Cavalier players – Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry – were tragically killed in a shooting last fall and the remainder of the 2022 season was canceled.

Last Saturday’s Spring Game provided an opportunity to honor those players and return to the field in front of the fans. The Hoos painted one end zone with the lost players’ names and numbers, held a moment of silence, and placed the players’ photos on HooVision prior to the game.

“It was a little emotional at first,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “You walk down and you get the chance to see the beautiful graphic that was designed and then placed on the field by the grounds crew. A little emotional when you think about it because we’re the ones that are fortunate to be on the grass where three young men are not fortunate to be on the grass and their families will not have a chance to see them play on the grass again so it puts it in perspective. Then once you get back playing as a football player and a competitor, that’s your safe place to be honest with you. Once the whistle blows, they put the ball down, nothing else matters – it’s where you can kind of find peace, you can find solace and then once you step off the field, then reality comes back into perspective. For me, it was a little emotional.”

The Spring Game eventually ended in a 34-19 win for White, but there was at least one more moment of emotion during the contest. UVA running back Mike Hollins, who was injured and hospitalized in the same November shooting, returned to the field and scored a touchdown in the end zone painted in honor of his fallen teammates. After scoring, he carried the ball over to Perry’s name and placed there. He tapped Perry’s name twice and then kissed his hand for a final pat to the ground.

Hollins celebrated with his teammates and little brother after the touchdown play. That play was a moment of personal triumph. Hollins continues to be a point of hope for many too. That’s something that Coach Elliott is aware of and talked with Hollins about during a spring practice.

“Mike’s still carrying a lot,” Elliott said. “He’s carrying a lot. He wants to do everything that he can to do things the right way. There’s going to be days when all of us are going to be emotional. I get emotional if I go a certain route on Grounds at times. I tear up a little bit. There’s going to be times.” 

Elliott and Hollins both addressed the fans at Scott Stadium briefly after the game. They expressed appreciation for the support.

Elliott also said he was proud of his team for how it showed its collective spirit during the Spring Game.

“It’s real life,” Elliott said while speaking with the media afterward. “As I told the fans, you never wake up in the morning expecting or thinking that you’re not going to see your loved ones again. You expect to wake up in the morning, you see your circle of friends, you enjoy them for a day, you go to sleep at night, and then you expect to wake up the next morning and have those folks around. For not just our folks, but all over the country people are dealing with the loss of life and tragic loss of life so it puts things in perspective. You have an opportunity to use that space to be a safe place, but you also have an opportunity to use that space to inspire somebody and that was my message to the team – we have a chance to change the world today, we truly do because a lot of people are tuning to see how are the Cavaliers going to respond, what’s this team going to look like. The spirit that I’ve seen day in and day out that’s all I wanted them to do was show the world spirit that they have. They had a great opportunity to show and encourage everybody how you respond when you face a tough time and for the most part, I feel like they did a really good job of letting everybody see their spirit and their joy and their fun and their passion for playing the game and their appreciation.”

Virginia Looking Downfield

The biggest play of the Spring Game came early. Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett zipped a pass to receiver JR Wilson sprinting into the middle of the field and he broke a tackle to turn it into a 68-yard touchdown play. The ball traveled from the 30 to 30 in the air as Muskett planted his front foot on the 30-yard line near the locker rooms, while Wilson hauled in the pass at the 30-yard line sprinting toward the hill.

Those types of throws are something that UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings wants as part of the offense this fall.

“We made a point of emphasis this spring on pushing the ball down the field, giving guys opportunities to make plays,” Kitchings said. “One thing we talked about offensively all spring is being a playmaker, having a playmaker’s mentality. That’s all guys. O-Linemen, skill player, whatever, we’re making these plays, we’re going to be determined to make these plays and the guys have done a good job of that.”

To make those plays, Virginia will need its quarterbacks to connect on the downfield throws. Muskett showed it on that one pass, while freshman Anthony Colandrea uncorked a couple of deep throws too during the day. Jay Woolfolk, who did not play in the Spring Game, obviously has an arm too as a relief pitcher throwing heat for the Hoos’ baseball team.

Muskett, the transfer from Monmouth that joined UVA this spring, said his playing experience make him comfortable with the long throws but also with the decision-making on when to attempt it.

“I’m very confident in it,” Muskett said. “I think it might just come from I’ve played a lot of snaps of football in college and high school so I’ve played almost every type of game situation. I know when you can take a shot, when it’s not smart to take a shot. Just from that. I always have confidence with these guys cause like JR was saying, we’ve been very successful throwing the ball downfield this spring. That’s a credit to the offensive line for protecting it and getting the run game going so those defenders have to play up and give us the over the top throws and also a credit to the receivers because they’re getting open, they’re making plays, and … any given time they can take it 60 to the house.”
 

Worth Quoting

Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett on the offense this spring … 

“Guys are flying around. We’re having fun. That’s the biggest thing I’ve noticed. I was able to watch with Coach Lamb and Coach Kitchings a lot of film from last year, even the Spring Game from last year, and it kind of looked like guys were a little hesitant. That’s expected when you’re working in a new offensive system, everyone’s going to be a little confused at first. Just the growth, especially with the offensive line, they’re blocking tremendously. I had all day back there [in the Spring Game]. In practice, I’ve been clean. The run game, as you saw late in the second half there, they’re playing extremely well.”