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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2016 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2016 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE
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Junior safety Armani Watts celebrates over UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen after first sack of the game.
BRUINS GET
OVERRUN IN OVERTIME QB Trevor Knight makes A&M debut, Aggies defeat ranked non-conference opponent for first time since 1989 Lawrence Smelser — THE BATTALION
Heath Clary @Heath_Clary
T
exas A&M found itself in a crucial position in overtime of Saturday’s contest against No. 16 UCLA. The Aggies had the ball inside the one-yard line on fourth and goal. Head coach Kevin Sumlin could send out the field goal unit for three points,
or he could go for a touchdown and run the risk of essentially giving the Bruins a victory. Sumlin elected to keep the offense on the field, and his gamble was rewarded when senior quarterback Trevor Knight strolled into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown that put the Aggies up 31-24, a lead they would not relinquish. That moment epitomized the tremendous value of Knight, a graduate transfer from
Oklahoma. He is the first upperclassman to be the full-time starting quarterback under Sumlin, and he came through in a big way when his team needed him most. By keeping the ball on the zone read and sprinting across the goal line, Knight did something an Aggie quarterback wouldn’t have done since the days of Johnny Manziel. He took the team on his back and willed it to victory. His coaching staff trusted that
he could make the correct read on the play and get the job done, and Knight did just that. “I think the communication with him was critical, to go for it on fourth down in overtime,” Sumlin said after the game. “It made it a little bit easier when the communication with your quarterback is, ‘If I pull it, there’s nobody out there. When you’ve got an older ANALYSIS ON PG. 3
ENGINEERING
Chevall Pryce — THE BATTALION
Capt. Daniel Barina, Col. Robert Davis, Maj. Michael Jones and Capt. Brendan Torphy completed two operations in Iraq and Syria, and earned the Raytheon Trophy.
‘Boneheads’ over Kyle Field 95th Squadron completes a flyover during Saturday’s game By Chevall Pryce @ChevallP Saturday was many Aggies’ first game in Kyle Field and for four members of the U.S. Air Force — including one Aggie — it was their first flight over Kyle Field. The five members of the flyover team — one member was unable to attend Saturday’s
game — are a part of the 95th Squadron, codenamed the “Boneheads.” Within the last 18 months the Boneheads have completed two operations, won the Raytheon Trophy for top fighter squadron, as well as completed distinguished service in Iraq, Syria and Russia. Colonel Robert Davis, 325th Squadron, Class of 1995 and former deputy Corps commander, said he was excited to finally be flying over Kyle Field. FLYOVER ON PG. 2
Grant Phifer — THE BATTALION
Dean Ellis, aerospace engineering graduate student, works on the team’s protoype pod.
A&M Hyperloop team preps for competition in January By Gracie Mock @g_mock2
Michael Young reflects on first year as Texas A&M president Michael Young became the university president May 1, 2015.
By Emily Bost @EmmyBost When Michael Young took on his role as President of Texas A&M in May of last year he said he immediately began to learn what being a part of the Aggie Family means. “The students here are so extraordinary, I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Young said. “I love the fact that people come here for an education of meaning, an education that really helps launch them into the world to be real citizens of substance. I just think that this is a unique education. This is a unique institution. It really is a privilege to be here.” YOUNG ON PG. 2
While some students spent summer vacationing, working and taking classes, the TAMU Aerospace Hyperloop team spent their summer in labs diligently working on their pod in preparation for the Hyperloop Pod competition weekend in January. One year after Hyperloop teams passed the first round of the Hyperloop Pod Competition — a high-speed transportation system involving pods that will carry passengers and cargo at over 700 miles per hour through a near-vacuum tube — the teams were finalized and pod designs began. The TAMU Aerospace team worked through the summer testing the individual aspects of their design, making additional parts and fixing any issues they encountered in the building phase. Over the summer, SpaceX, the company hosting the competition, made multiple changes to the rules and requirements, including a major adjustment to move the competition dates. Teams will now compete on the one-year anniversary of the
design in the last week of January to offer two test weekends on the track. “It gives us a little more space, a little more time to incorporate some more of the things we needed to do,” said Adonios Karpetis, associate professor of aerospace engineering and faculty advisor. “We have a lot more space, but now what they are actually asking is that we test the pod in California in August, some teams, and in October and we’re in the October frame. So we have to go there and test the pod, it all works pretty much the same way.” Christian Sotelo, aerospace engineering senior and TAMU Aerospace team member, said the purpose of going to the test track in October is primarily to get feedback from SpaceX. “They’re just going to inspect it basically and if they say it’s ready to go, we get to test it, if it’s not, we probably come home,” Sotelo said. “So get everything to see if it passes the preliminary inspection for the actual inspection in January, for the actual competition in January.” Aerospace graduate student and TAMU HYPERLOOP ON PG. 4