Sept. 26, 2017

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THE

EXTRA POINT COLLEGIATETIMES

The Hokies face the Clemson Tigers on Sept. 30 in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship. page 6

collegiatetimes.com

September 26, 2017

An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903

FILE 2007 ESPN’s Lee Corso puts on the Hokies’ headgear on the set of College GameDay during the show’s last visit to Blacksburg, Sept. 1, 2007. Corso coined the phrase, “I don’t know what a Hokie is, but God is one of them,” after his rental car was struck by lightning when he picked the Hokies to lose in 2000.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY IS BACK

ESPN’s College GameDay comes to Blacksburg this Saturday for the first time since 2007.

NATHAN LOPRETE assistant sports editor

The last time College GameDay visited Blacksburg, the Hokies were in the midst of one of the most trying times in the university’s history. On Sept. 1, 2007, Virginia Tech took the field for the first time since the shootings that took place on April 16, 2007. Now 10 years later, College GameDay heads to Blacksburg for a completely different reason. Virginia Tech is on the edge of national recognition and the cards have aligned for

possibly one of the best college football games in 2017. Virginia Tech fans have had their eyes on this game since the Hokies came up just short against Clemson in the ACC Championship game last year. With both teams off to a 4–0 start, this game could determine who will have the inside track in the ACC, and for Virginia Tech, it’s an opportunity to make a statement to the nation. Head coach Justin Fuente has turned around the direction of a program that struggled to stay relevant and, as a result,

had fallen out of the national spectrum. ESPN made its College G a m eD ay d ebut in Blacksburg in 1999. The Hokies were ranked No. 4 in the nation and led by Michael Vick and Shyrone Stith, Virginia Tech routed No. 16 Syracuse, 62–0. That wasn’t the last trip GameDay made to Blacksburg during the magical ‘99 season. When No. 19 Miami came to town in November, the Hokies were ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Hokies defense see GAMEDAY / page 4

MATT JONES / COLLEGIATE TIMES A panel discusses Greek life in the Ambler Johnston Hall Great Room, Sept. 21, 2017.

Town-Gown goes Greek Members of Virginia Tech Greek life participated in a panel as part of the monthly series of meetings. MATT JONES editor in chief

Thousands of students at Virginia Tech are involved in Greek life as members of over 50 different chapters of fraternities and sororities. And with plans for continued growth of the university, that number is likely to increase. With such a large population of fraternities and sororities, university administrators and members of the town have interacted with each other frequently. That relationship between fraternities and sororities at Tech and the surrounding

community was the subject of this academic year’s first Town-Gown meeting on the evening of Sept. 21. The meetings between both members of the town and university are held in the Ambler Johnston Great Room with the intention of spurring conversation between the two groups. Steve Ross, deputy town manager for Blacksburg, and Lee Hawthorne, chief of staff for the department of student affairs, chair the Town-Gown Committee. Hawthorne is filling in for Frank Shushok, senior associate vice president for student affairs who

had helped start the meetings several years ago, with Ross. Participating in a panel discussion were Byron Hughes, director of fraternity and sorority life; Chase Ginther, president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC); Travis Bauer, president of the campus chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (Bauer is an opinions contributor for the Collegiate Times as well); and Kristy Keohane, president of the Panhellenic Council at Virginia Tech. One of the topics that the discussion focused on is see MEETING / page 3

Down goes No. 1 Notre Dame Virginia Tech men’s soccer defeated No. 1 ranked Notre Dame on Friday night at Thompson Field.

STEPHEN NEWMAN sports staff writer

ALEXA JOHNSON / COLLEGIATE TIMES Jakob Bluemler (31) prepares to kick the ball with pressure from UVA, Sept. 15, 2016.

A TALE OF TWO BRUNCHES Of all the places in town, where will you brunch? page 5

Virginia Tech men’s soccer followed up a 2–1 win over Davidson at Thompson Field with a thrilling 2–1 home upset over the No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The offense came out on the attack early and prevented the Irish from getting comfortable shots. The Hokies came out as the aggressors to start the game. Forward Marcelo Acuna had a shot in the sixth minute that appeared to go in, but was actually just wide. However, he came back a minute later with a goal to give the Hokies a

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH VT welcomes Clemson to Blacksburg on Saturday. page 6

quick 1–0 lead. “We knew we hadn’t been starting well in games,” said head coach Mike Brizendine. “But if we came out with energy, we could capitalize very quickly, and we did it.” He added, “We’ve conceded goals in the first 5–7, and we really wanted to get out of that type of game.” Despite the dominant start for the Hokies, Notre Dame actually controlled the flow for much of the half. The Irish outshot Virginia Tech 10–6 in the first half, but were unable to put the ball in the net. Goalie Ben Lundgaard knew he was in for a long

night, but was pleased with the relatively low percentage of shots that came his way. “They’re the number one team in the nation for a reason … but keeping them out of the 18 (yard area from the goal) was definitely helpful,” Lungaard said. The best chance the Irish had to knot the score in the opening period was when Jon Gallagher had a free kick opportunity in the 37th minute, but missed high. Notre Dame continued to put up more shots than the Hokies into the second half. The Irish made Tech pay in the 50th minute when see SOCCER / page 4

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