The Plymouth boss, who held the managerial reins at QPR for five years until he was relieved of his duties by chairman Gianni Paladini amid speculation linking him with Leicester City, was warmly greeted by the Rangers faithful, and was even given his old dugout by Rangers boss John Gregory.
It was an afternoon of mixed fortunes for Plymouth midfielder Lilian Nalis, who put the visitors ahead with his third goal of the season only to see red late on for a second bookable offence.
By then, Lee Cook's rapid response to a goalkeeping blunder by Argyle stopper Luke McCormick had given Gregory's men a deserved share of the spoils.
A first half high in which commitment and endeavour were not always accompanied by quality began in promising style for Rangers, Dexter Blackstock and Adam Bolder catching the visiting defence napping to force an agile double save from McCormick.
The early scare behind them, Holloway's well-drilled outfit rapidly established a grip on the proceedings, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake stinging Lee Camp's palms with a solid right-foot shot before Nalis headed just over from a corner.
With half-an-hour gone, honours were about even in the possession stakes, but with Rangers struggling for sustained attacking momentum Plymouth looked the likelier to make the breakthrough.
So it proved. David Norris floated a free-kick into the area from a central position, Rory Fallon flicked on, and Nalis stole in to head beyond Camp's outstretched glove.
The Rangers of the opening period scarcely resembled a side battling for their Championship lives, but Gregory's side emerged after the interval with renewed spirit.
With 59 minutes gone, Sampsa Timoska's deflected shot crept agonisingly wide of the left-hand upright, but when McCormick spilt the resulting corner, Cook was on hand to drill home his fourth of the season.
Plymouth rallied, Norris forcing Camp to save well with his feet after good work by substitute Peter Halmosi, but now Rangers had their tails up.
With full-time beckoning Holloway's side, depleted by the 80th-minute dismissal of Nalis, were forced to mount an increasingly desperate rearguard action.
Substitute Paul Furlong almost turned the ball home at the death before having an injury-time strike ruled out for offside, but in the end Plymouth were good value for a point.