At the McCue Center, Hollins’ locker is closest to that of quarterback Tony Muskett.
“I’m not a doctor or a nurse or anything like that, but I don’t know how his recovery was that quick,” Muskett said. “That’s tremendous and a credit to him, because he’s one of the hardest-working people you’ll ever meet in your life … Just seeing him walking every day and how he interacts with everybody and how mature and how grown up he is, 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.”
Hollins finished with 40 yards and one TD on 11 carries. After the Blue-White game, Elliott addressed the crowd, with Hollins at his side.
“I cannot even imagine what this young man has been through,” Elliott said.
After the shooting, the team canceled its final two regular-season games and began the healing process amid an outpouring of support from the extended UVA family.
“You guys stood up, supported us, held us up at a time when we didn’t know how to stand up, and I want to thank you,” Elliott told the crowd. “And what I would say to you now moving forward is there’s going to be times when you need to hold us up some more, and we need to hold you up.
“At the end of the day, we’re all in this together. It wasn’t just the football team that was impacted by the tragedy, it was our institution, our athletic department, our community, our fans, the communities of the three young people back in their hometowns that were impacted and changed forever.”
Elliott teared up and had to pause before continuing.
“They were beautiful young men,” he said. “They were much more than football players. My heart goes out to the families, to the Davis family, the Perry family, the Chandler family. They’ve been inspirational to us, just the strength, the courage, the vigor that they go forward with every day, I don’t know how they do it, but because they do, I know that I have to and this program has to, to make sure that those numbers and those names and the lives of those young men were not lost in vain.”
A moment of silence was observed before the national anthem was played. A spirited scrimmage followed. The quarterbacks were off-limits to tacklers, but otherwise it was a full-contact game for which the roster was split into two teams. The White squad won 34-19.
Muskett, a graduate transfer from…