The USC Trojans clinched a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a thrilling 48-45 win over UCLA. While many of the players celebrated the win at the Rose Bowl, one Trojan player had a different range of emotions.
USC left tackle Bobby Haskins transferred from Virginia after playing four seasons with the Cavaliers. As his teammates basked in beating their crosstown rivals, tears poured down the face of Haskins as he walked around the field.
Haskins was overcome with emotions, presumably thinking of his former teammates, after three Virginia football players were shot and killed on Nov. 13 by a former Virginia walk-on Christopher Jones Jr.
Jones opened fire on a group of students returning from a field trip in Washington, D.C. Virginia wide receivers Devin Chandler, Lavell Davis Jr., and linebacker D’Sean Perry were killed. Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins and a non-football student, Marlee Morgan, were also shot.
As Haskins walked around the field, USC head coach Lincoln Riley embraced him.
“We’ve tried to certainly surround him this week and just be there for him,” Riley said earlier in the week, per Keely Eure of The Athletic.
Haskins was a teammate of Chandler, Perry, Davis, and Hollins. The shooting affected the entire the University of Virginia community and the Commonwealth.
Virginia Tech and Liberty chose to wear orange and navy uniforms to honor Virginia during their game against each other. The Washington Commanders wore helmet decals in Sunday’s game.
Virginia canceled its game against Coast Carolina Saturday. Instead, the university held memorial services for the three slain players.
The tragedy widely affected many, including former Virginia Cavaliers player Bobby Haskins.
