Many college football programs held their spring games this weekend, giving fans a glimpse at what teams will look like in the fall. For Virginia, though, the spring game was a much more emotional affair, especially for running back Mike Hollins.
Hollins, who was injured in November during a shooting that killed three Cavaliers players, got the first touch of the game.
Later in the game, Hollins scored a goal line touchdown and celebrated by putting the football on D’Sean Perry’s name in the back of the end zone. Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler were the three Virginia football players who were killed in the shooting, which hospitalized Hollins.
Mike Hollins with one of the most meaningful spring game touchdowns in UVA's return to Scott Stadium.
— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) April 15, 2023
Places the ball over the name of the late D'Sean Perry. pic.twitter.com/42L6rIJMzp
Hollins spent a week in the hospital and needed multiple surgeries after the shooting. He is entering his fifth and final season in college with Virginia.
Cavaliers coach Tony Elliot has been impressed with the way Hollins has approached the team this offseason.
“His life has been impacted and changed forever, so to see his resilience every single day, and his desire to move forward with purpose, it’s been an inspiration to all the guys,” Elliott said, via ESPN’s David Hale. “To be able to kind of put everything in perspective and understand that yeah, we’re not moving on, but we do have to move forward—and he set the tempo and the direction in how we’re moving forward.”
In total, Hollins had 11 carries for 40 yards in the spring game, all in the first half.
