FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2017 STUDENT MEDIA
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SPORTS: LANDIS DURHAM FEATURE PAGE 5
SPORTS: A&M-UT RIVALRY PAGE 6
POSTER: ARMANI WATTS
A&M VS. SOUTH CAROLINA: Sept. 30 @ 6:30 p.m. SEC Network rgan Engel and
Photos by C. Mo
Cassie Stricker
CHRISTIAN KIRK
LION
— THE BATTA
O G O T Y D A E R D N A D E D RELOA MS IA L IL W N O E V Y A R ODSON T TYREL D
KELLEN MOND
ARMANI WATTS
Aggies hosts Gamecocks at Kyle Field in evening game for SEC home opener By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary Coming off a 50-43 overtime win over Arkansas in the Southwest Classic, Texas A&M returns home to Kyle Field for a showdown with South Carolina. The Gamecocks (3-1) are fresh off a 17-16 victory over Louisiana Tech that was decided on a field goal in the final seconds. South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC, as the sophomore ranks third in the conference in total offense.
“He’s been in big games before. Their offense is a little bit like ours schematically — we’re pretty similar — but obviously they have an experienced quarterback,” A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said at Tuesday’s press conference. “They have an attack really similar to ours utilizing the tight end, some run-pass options with big, physical receivers. They have really evolved in their offense with him because he can run — he can scramble and throw it.” Will Muschamp’s squad will be without its star receiver Deebo Samuel, however, after he broke his leg two weeks ago against Kentucky. Samuel is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the SEC when healthy, and the Gamecocks offense has not looked nearly as potent since
he went down. The Aggie offense, though, has continued to improve under the leadership of freshman signal-caller Kellen Mond. The San Antonio native threw for 216 yards and a touchdown against the Razorbacks in Arlington and also ran for 109 yards on 10 carries. “He’s got a lot of talent,” Sumlin said of Mond. “He’s getting more comfortable, we’re getting more comfortable with him and knowing what he can do. I think you can see the communication even on the sideline is better.” Mond looks like an entirely different quarterback than the one who struggled mightily in the season opener against UCLA. “He was kind of tossed into the fire as a true freshman. He was just pushed in there and had
Psychology senior Dean Aramburu said that the food at Good Bull BBQ is incredible and nothing really compares.
to go into the game at a big-time moment,” sophomore running back Trayveon Williams said. “Now he has a different look in his eyes, he looks at the game from a whole other aspect, he’s become way more vocal and he’s becoming just a leader he was born to be.” In addition to Mond’s growth, the A&M receiving corps has also shown improvement. Fellow newcomer Jhamon Ausbon snagged five passes for 48 yards against Arkansas, Christian Kirk exploded for 110 yards and two touchdowns and the receivers have started making more contested catches than they did at the beginning of the season. Kirk also contributed in the return game, taking a kickoff to the house against Arkansas and earning the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week in the process. Kirk looked like his PREVIEW ON PG. 3
Globally expanding the Aggie Network Association of Former Students offers year round opportunities for former students to travel world By Mara Kabir @MaraKabir
A TASTE OF AGGIELAND
For 50 years now, Traveling Aggies, a program through The Association of Former Students, has allowed graduates of Texas A&M to travel the world. With almost 70 trips planned every year, former students have a number of options, whether it be a quick getaway to the Kentucky Derby or an exciting trip to Tanzania. Jennifer Bohac, director of the program, said she goes on about 15 trips a year, an equivalent of traveling 250 days. “These trips are always fun,” Bohac said. “We make it easy for you. The details of the trip, such as planning the itinerary, booking a hotel or planning transportation are all taken care of when you sign up. And it’s such an amazing experience to meet Aggies anywhere you go.” Bohac said many times former students have extended their kindness to these travel groups, such as hosting a fiesta at their home in Acapulco, singing the Aggie War Hymn with fellow Aggies on the Spanish Steps in Rome or when Bill Flores, U.S. Congressman and former Aggie, gave a tour of Washington D.C. “That’s what makes trips memorable,” Bohac said. “People cherish those times.” Joshua Fuller, Class of 2017, said he remembers the time when he and a friend met a group of old Ags and their families on the excursion at Machu Picchu in Peru. “We ran into the group and were greeted with a loud ‘Gig ‘Em,’ walking back to the main site, we shared stories about A&M, talked about our lives and contemplated how awesome TRAVEL ON PG. 3
Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Former Yell Leader opens BBQ restaurant across from Kyle By Abbie Maier @abbsmaier
F
ollowing the success of his barbeque food truck, Roy May, Class of 2015 and former yell leader, opened up a stationary restaurant. Good Bull BBQ’s original food truck was parked across from campus, and an overwhelmingly positive response from the community accelerated the timeline for serving from a brick-and-mortar location. In roughly 60 days, May and his team revamped the location to reflect their goals for the restaurant. They elicited little outside help, working to
create Good Bull’s atmosphere from knocking out walls to creating bright chalkboard art. “It needed some work,” May said. “This place kind of looked like a war zone. Even when we were three days from opening, it didn’t look like we were going to pull it off, to be honest. Looking back, it was a lot of fun. But when you’re in the building every day, you don’t really see the progress. When you step back, you notice.” After graduating from A&M, May decided to call College Station home and has always wanted to bring a new barbeque joint to the area. Every decoration inside holds meaning to Roy and his team, including a hallway dedicated to the Bonfire Memorial. “The biggest thing that is our hope, is we wanted to create a destination
location in College Station for barbeque,” May said. “It’s not just a place where you can get your barbeque, sit down and eat, maybe grab a cold beer and leave. We wanted to create a place to tell a story with. It’s a little bit of my story, it’s a little bit of the story of A&M.” May said he is grateful for the enormous social media support that Good Bull has gained, and said the support has helped immensely. Compared to the food truck, this new location has afforded the business the ability to serve more food and expand the menu with little hassle. “The barbeque trailer gave us a great avenue to get our food into the market here in Bryan-College Station, with a lot less financial risk,” May said. “A BBQ ON PG. 2
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