October 6, 2020

collegiatetimes.com

October 6, 2020

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

Hokies beat Blue Devils 38-31

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PAGE 2 October 6, 2020

opinions collegiatetimes.com

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Zoom breakout rooms provide sense of normalcy, but not without challenges

B

The small group feature allows students to interact despite the lack of in-person instruction due to COVID-19.

efore the pandemic, I genuinely liked school. There were many times I sat in a classroom, entirely engaged and left feeling buoyant with intellectual curiosity. Now that everything is online, classes are mundane, unstimulating and unorganized. I weighed my options this summer and decided that school in any form would be better than none, but we are now a month into the semester and I regularly question this choice. That said, there have been aspects of our online/hybrid school experience that have brought us some semblance of normalcy; for myself, one of these aspects is my professors’ use of breakout rooms.

Online schooling via Zoom is inherently flawed. Professors, through years of gauging students’ receptiveness to their varying methods of teaching, had perfected the way they run their classes — but with the online format, they had to start all over. Optimists probably assumed that lecture-heavy classes would not be severely affected by the switch over to Zoom, but we underestimated the difficulty of the online format. Staying focused and engaged is harder than ever; professors can no longer easily see students’ confused faces or take note of when students look up from their notes, ready for the next onslaught of information. The biggest piece missing from these online classes is human interaction — and that’s where breakout rooms come into play. Breakout rooms are a feature of Zoom lectures which enable the host to section its participants off into pairs or groups. Now, in the world of online schooling, breakout rooms are the equivalent of group discussions.

There are a lot of differing opinions

on breakout rooms. Awkward silences and nervous utterings of “no, you go” surrounding interruptions are part of the territory. Scrambling to come up with an idea worthy of sharing, despite having no ideas worthy of sharing, is inherent to the breakout room experience. The pressure is on when you know that once the discussion is over with, you and your group will be expected to relay your discussion with the class. Forgetting to establish who will be the person to sum up the discussion once the class reconvenes is a fatal mistake.

Asynchronous Zoom lectures do not provide us with an experience that resembles the crucial college classroom experience. Synchronous classes are real-time instruction over Zoom; asynchronous classes consist of pre-recorded instruction that students follow at their own pace. “[The synchronous schedule] doesn’t feel normal, but it feels closer to what a pre-COVID semester felt like than logging in and watching the video and taking a quiz every day,” said Caitlin Bowman, a Virginia Tech senior majoring in human nutrition, foods and exercise.

While synchronous Zoom lectures allow students to learn similarly to before, there are missing components, peer communication and active learning being two of them.

Psychology instructor Katherine Elizabeth Adams underlines the importance of the ladder.

“We know from the research that [active learning] is really beneficial for learning,” she said. “If you’re just sitting taking notes, it’s not nearly as effective as if you get to actually discuss and talk about ideas with your classmates.”

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In a Zoom setting, to give students the opportunity to partake in active learning, Adams utilizes the breakout room feature.

Her biggest issue with breakout rooms is her inability to be omnipresent as she would be in a normal classroom setting.

“When you break out into (in-person) groups, it’s easy to tell when the majority of the class has stopped talking about the question or moved on or if there’s a lot of confusion,” Adams said, also noting that in online breakout rooms, she can only observe one group at a time.

While professors grapple with this issue, students wrestle with issues of which professors may not be aware. Speaking up in front of students we may not know is scary. When students are reluctant to contribute, we recoil at the idea of being the person who ensures they do. So how do we make breakout rooms more comfortable for everyone involved? How do we bring the organic sharing of insight back into our lackluster, Zoom-riddled lives?

The truth is that we will never be fully comfortable in breakout rooms, especially when we lack familiarity with those of whom

we are engaged in discussion. Professors could make an effort to keep people in their same groups throughout each class session.

This could also be done for a week or a prolonged period of time to give students a chance to build off of previous discussions and solidify their comfortability with one another. But we also need to accept that it is an uncomfortable process. There will be prolonged moments of pronounced silence, and this is not going to change anytime soon.

“Nobody likes to feel uncomfortable,” Bowman said. “I think that if you are not uncomfortable, you are doing something wrong, because embracing that feeling [of discomfort] leads to personal growth. So instead of saying, ‘I hate this; I feel uncomfortable,’ consider switching the perspective a little bit to say, ‘I hate this; I feel uncomfortable, but I’m growing.’”

JULIANNE JOYCE • junior • psychology

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news collegiatetimes.com

October 6, 2020 PAGE 3

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Community leaders share disfavor in the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline before cancellation Some students say the pipeline would have affected BIPOC and low-wealth communities disproportionately.

BENITA LUKE news reporter

In July, Virginia and North Carolina-based organizers Dominion Energy and Duke Energy canceled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, an underground, natural gas pipeline designed to ship natural gas from West Virginia to North Carolina and Virginia.

Duke Energy cited “ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project” as reasons for cancellation. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce sees the $8 billion project as a setback to the Commonwealth’s access to reliable energy sources.

Previously, to push the courts toward favor of the pipeline, President Donald Trump signed executive orders to allow regulators to bypass environmental reviews for projects like the pipeline as yet another way to boost the economy.

The ACP also had Supreme Court approval to cross the Appalachian Trail, a decision announced in June.

However, many organizations and individuals around the Blacksburg community who opposed the pipeline came forward to talk about the environmental impact this

infrastructure would have had on Central Virginia.

“I have been consistently against the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline,” said Delegate Chris Hurst. “I covered these pipelines when they were first proposed when I was still in journalism, and they never seemed like the right solution for Virginia from the beginning. We don’t need the natural gas that it claims to be bringing and it certainly is not something we need at the expense of destroying our personal property, state parks, national parks and the Appalachian Trail.”

Hurst represents Virginia’s 12th House of Delegates district encompassing the City of Radford, Giles County and portions of Montgomery County and Pulaski County.

Naturally, he saw the impact this pipeline would have on the Blacksburg and Virginia Tech community.

“When you look at the way pipelines have been constructed over the last generation or so, the number of incidents in explosions have exponentially gone up. This is because they’re building these pipelines as fast as they can, as many as they can, trying to get as much of this natural gas out of the ground and generated before it’s no longer a viable energy source,” Hurst said. “There’s an inherent danger in

living in close proximity to the pipeline.

Many of the folks that I represent live in what’s called the “evaporation zone” where if an explosion were to occur, there wouldn’t be anything left.”

Select government officials aren’t the only ones against the Supreme Court decision and the ACP. Some student-run organizations at Virginia Tech have also spoken up connecting the pipeline issue to a much larger one.

“We believe that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and projects similar to it are unjust by disproportionately impacting Black, Brown, Indigenous and low wealth communities,” said Rachel Spector, representative of Virginia Tech for Climate Justice. “Our organization has connections with BIPOC and low wealth families who have experienced noise, air, and water pollution from the ACP, and a few families who have been forced to sell their homes. Additionally, the direct and indirect environmental impacts will be catastrophic.

Science is telling us that we have a rapidly decreasing window of time to address climate change.”

VTCJ was founded to take aggressive action to address the climate emergency. In the past, it has worked with the administration in rewriting the outdated 2009 Climate

Action Commitment to reflect the urgency of the climate crisis.

Furthermore, the newly founded organization Appalachian Youth Climate Coalition has also spoken out about the issue. They strongly believe that rural Appalachian towns deserve a more profound voice in the modern climate movement.

“We in no way, shape or form support the construction — or idea — of the pipeline,” said Carson Hopkins, founder and co-director of AYCC. “The ACP is a prime example of environmental racism. ACP is planning to place a compressor station in Buckingham County — Union Hill specifically — a Black community in Central Virginia. Not only are compression stations connected to many health problems, but they are at risk of explosion. If construction is finished, this pipeline could send a message to Blacksburg and the greater community that the fight for justice has been lost. In Blacksburg, there is a large resistance against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and we cannot let setbacks in the ACP resistance put a damper on the MVP resistance.” @CollegiateTimes

10th annual Hokie BugFest returns to locals virtually, anticipates larger attendance Virginia Tech’s Department of Entomology will offer on-demand content in addition to live virtual exhibits beginning Oct. 7.

LILLIAN MANNA news reporter

As October rolls around, Virginia Tech’s annual Hokie BugFest gears up for its tenth anniversary in a virtual format.

The festival begins Oct. 7 with daily virtual events and activities on the event’s website, such as scavenger hunts, exhibit previews and an interactive Facebook page where participants can vote and partake in bug-related contests and challenges, like the all-new Cockroach Derby.

Hokie BugFest, one of Virginia Tech’s

largest science literacy events, educates participants and families about Earth’s interesting insects in a 10-day celebration, leading to a full day of live virtual festivities on Oct. 17.

In addition to on-demand content, the Inn at Virginia Tech’s executive chef Scott Watson, Tony Gustin the Bug Whisperer, WDBJ meteorologist Brent Watts and bug magician Brandon Owens are making bug-related presentations Oct. 17.

The annual festival also aims to highlight the value of the entomological world that exists in the Virginia Tech community and

to engage its participants in insect-related activities, exhibits and events at home which help demonstrate the importance and role of insects in the environment around them.

Although the festival is virtual this year, Department of Entomology Communications Coordinator James Mason sees an advantage to the online format in that people who are not local are able to participate in BugFest this year. This year’s virtual activities and events make BugFest more accessible than previous years for people who do not live in Blacksburg and its surrounding areas.

“Many people have a fear or unease when it comes to insects,” Mason said. He hopes the message of Hokie BugFest reaches its audience once again this year to “teach kids and parents that insects are really cool and beneficial to our world.”

The online activities will be accessible through the event’s website and Facebook Oct. 7.

@CollegiateTimes

PAGE 4 October 6, 2020

lifestyles collegiatetimes.com

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Home is where the heart is: The Bennett family reflects on their 30year connection to Virginia Tech The Bennetts have been tied to the university through their children, football games and lip sync videos.

EMILY CARTER lifestyles editor

After some people graduate college, they may never set foot on their campus again.

They may reminisce about their experiences to their friends and children and look at old pictures of themselves, and that’ll be the end of it. This isn’t the case for the Bennett family. Their connection to Virginia Tech goes back 30 years, and they seem to become more and more connected to the university as time goes on.

Scott and Julie Bennett started dating in high school. Scott was a senior and Julie was a freshman. Scott and Julie were in chorus together but really got to know each other because Julie’s former boyfriend’s older sister had a crush on Scott, and Julie would act as a wing woman for her friend. But one night, her former boyfriend’s sister wasn’t able to come to one of the functions. This was the night that sparks flew between Scott and Julie. “(At) one of the functions she got called into work and she couldn’t go, but I still went with some friends, and so Scott and I talked, and I came home from that and I called (my boyfriend’s) sister and I said, ‘I can’t be your go-between anymore because I think he’s getting the wrong messages. I think he’s starting to like me because I’m the one communicating all this, and it’s missing the whole factor of you like him instead of me,’” Julie said. “And she was like, ‘Hey, it didn’t work. If you want to go out with him, (then go) out with him.’”

Julie and her boyfriend ended their relationship, and Julie got closer to Scott. Julie didn’t want to get into another relationship right away, but she used Scott’s senior status to her advantage. Since Julie wasn’t old enough to have her license, Scott would give her rides home from cheerleading practice, and the two got to know each other for the rest of the school year.

Scott and Julie went on their first date the night Scott graduated high school, and they dated for the rest of the summer. Julie

tried to break it off with Scott so he could be single when he entered college, but he wasn’t having it. Scott and Julie dated for seven years while Scott was a student at Virginia Tech and Julie attended UVA. They married shortly after Julie graduated on June 18, 1994.

After Scott graduated from Virginia Tech in 1991, the Bennett family was tied to the university. They lived in Christiansburg while Julie attended graduate school at Tech.

Although Julie went to UVA, the Bennetts’ connection to Virginia Tech was stronger, even when they attended a UVA football game in 1999. “(We saw the winning) Michael Vick touchdown against West Virginia. We watched that on the jumbotron at Scott Stadium because we had gone there for the UVA, Georgia Tech game,” Scott said. “The Tech, West Virginia game was just finishing up at Tech, and Tech was losing, so they put it up on the jumbotron for all the UVA fans to root against Tech. Then Michael Vick scurries down the sideline and gets us in field goal position and we win the game at the last second. It was so awesome being the one guy there cheering that on. Everybody else was just so dejected.”

When the Bennetts attended the game, Julie was pregnant with their first child, Sierra. Sierra is a junior at Virginia Tech majoring in childhood pre-education and a cheerleader. They also have a son, Caleb, who is a senior in high school. “(Sierra and I) went during her spring break senior year or junior year for a tour …

And she said, every time she went on campus, it felt like home. That was actually one of her interview questions when she was trying out for cheer,” Julie said. “They asked her, ‘Why do you want to be a Hokie, or why’d you want to come to Virginia Tech?’ And she said every time (she) came to campus, it just felt like home. And they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, you read the banner (in Cassel) on the way here?’ She had no idea what they were talking about. It was funny.”

After Sierra decided to attend Virginia

COURTESY OF JULIE BENNETT Scott and Julie Bennett on their wedding day June 18, 1994.

Tech, she attended orientation that summer.

Sierra and Julie were on the Drillfield trying to get in touch with Scott so they could see them on the Burruss webcam. While they were waiting for Scott to answer their calls, they walked to Burruss where a bunch of police officers were. One of the police officers walked up to Julie and Sierra and asked if they would like to be in the VTPD lip sync music video. Julie and Sierra said yes, and they were led to a bus where they saw a few familiar faces.

“We walk on the bus, and Sierra gets on the bus and keeps walking, and she goes and sits down, and I (gasp) and I didn’t let her keep walking. Cause I grabbed her arm.

I said, ‘Sierra, that’s Frank Beamer,’” Julie said.

Frank Beamer was driving the bus while

Tim Sands, the HokieBird, the Bennetts and a few others were passengers.

“I sat almost across from the HokieBird, and Sierra’s in the very back of the bus. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, (Scott) is going to die,’” Julie said.

Even after 30 years, the Bennett family is still tied to Virginia Tech. After football games, kids and music videos, the family is still connected to the university. This just goes to show that Virginia Tech really is home to the Bennetts and so many other Hokies.

@CollegiateTimes

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study break collegiatetimes.com

Today’s birthday horoscope (Oct. 6): Build a strong home base this year. Make domestic improvements together with consistency, organization and coordination.

Choosing alternate routes with studies and travels this winter stimulates creative communications. Adapting the story around changes next summer inspires new tricks and destinations. Share extra family sweetness.

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 6, 2020

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Meat on a skewer 6 Better mtge. deal 10 Subtle “Look this way” 14 Gulf of __: Red Sea inlet 15 Horror movie helper 16 Healthy 17 Albacore and yellowfin 18 “Darn it!”

20 Ingredient in some Tibetan cheese 22 Genealogy aid 23 Pie-mode link 24 Cut out early 25 “Heavenly!”

26 Mont Blanc, e.g.

29 Beatles’ meter maid 31 Hunk of dirt 33 Lea plea 34 Fast-food chain named for its founders, the Raffel Brothers 36 Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Michael 39 Splendor 41 Maple extract 42 Born yesterday, so to speak 43 Female folklore deity 44 Part of a plug 46 Word with pool or park 47 First name in country 49 List-ending abbr.

50 Finish 51 Crayon shade 53 Legendary Greek mount 55 Drink with scones 57 Ideal way to work, teamwise 59 “No idea” 63 Living labyrinth 65 Time off, informally 66 “The Clan of the Cave Bear” author Jean 67 Kitchen cooker 68 Clear the board 69 Nimble 70 Let off steam 71 Drops below the horizon

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PAGE 6 October 6, 2020

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album review

Music to guide you into the season: Fleet Foxes release ‘Shore’ in accordance with the fall equinox The new album released Sept. 22 offers 15 songs that are worth listening to as we head into the fall season.

PEYTON MANFRE lifestyles contributor

When I think of fall, I think of nature — cooler air, changing leaves, picking apples and pumpkin patches. That being said, I would argue that folk music is probably the most fitting to commemorate fall. The gentle sound of mellow guitars, soft beats and angelic harmonies is the perfect accompaniment to crisp fall air and cozy nights in.

With about as much warning as Virginia gave us before 80 degrees turned into 60, Fleet Foxes released their fourth album, “Shore,” on Sept. 22 at exactly 13:31 UTC in accordance with the fall equinox. The band hinted at the album’s release with a cryptic Instagram caption reading simply, “Tuesday,” just two days before the drop.

“Shore” was officially announced Sept.

21, with a second Instagram post that detailed the band’s plans to reveal the album alongside a short film shot and directed

by Kersti Jan Werdal. While a seemingly unorthodox way to announce new music, this isn’t the first 2020 release that’s come about in this manner — Taylor Swift’s “folklore” comes to mind.

Formed in Seattle in 2006, Fleet Foxes has become one of the most prominent indie folk bands in the music industry. Unlike other popular folk bands from the 2000s, Fleet Foxes aren’t defined by banjos and acoustic guitars. While their music utilizes guitars and mandolins, their signature lies in harmony-rich vocals, sometimes reminiscent of early choral music from the Roman Catholic Church. However, Fleet Foxes does a superb job of covering a range of vibes throughout its discography. For example, songs like “Quiet Houses,” from the band’s first album, use repetition and harmony to create that medieval church feel where songs like “She Got Dressed,” from the band’s first collection released in 2018, incorporates a heavier bass and a guitar riff along with a melody not dissimilar to something the Beach Boys might have sung in the ‘60s.

“Shore” packaged with an album cover featuring a cool-toned photograph of a wave that has just crashed over the beach. While it certainly takes musical elements from past Fleet Foxes albums, like harmony and Robin Pecknold’s signature vocals, the album as a

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Fleet Foxes at Coachella, 2009.

whole has a fresher sound. It seems a bit more in tune with this century while somehow still keeping the band’s original sound intact.

Lyrically, “Shore” shows immense growth when compared to the Fleet Foxes’ previous albums. Its first album, “Fleet Foxes,” released in 2008, incorporated lyrics mainly based on fables and tales. While seemingly simplistic, these poetic folk tale lyrics can require a lot of unpacking — take “White Winter Hymnal” for example.

To me, this lyric style leaves something to be desired. There’s not too much room for interpretation and feeling in these lyrics, and I love music that feels like someone is telling me his or her life story — it allows me the opportunity to relate to someone and reflect on my own life. Over the years, Fleet Foxes have grown from these fable-inspired lyrics and developed a way of sharing more personal emotions and stories; however, “Shore” is probably the band’s best lyrical representation to date.

The lyrics from the newest album focus a lot on time, which seems super relevant in

an era where time has practically frozen for six months. Songs like “A Long Way Past The Past,” “Young Man’s Game” and “I’m Not My Season” contemplate the construct of time and how we grow into ourselves over the course of years. Lyrically, these songs represent that Pecknold is no longer a 20-something kid — he’s a grown man who now experiences life through the eyes of such and can write about the past, present and future from this perspective.

Images of nature, specifically water, make many appearances throughout the record, which is fitting considering its title.

The album’s opener, “Wading in Waist-High Water,” is a short, echoey ballad that mimics the sounds of a calm morning by the sea.

Lyrically, it’s a bit ambiguous and difficult to unpack, but to the best that I can interpret it, the song uses imagery of water and fire along with the seasons to tell the story of a relationship between two people that has mutually faded over the course of summer.

Again, time is a relevant theme. Overall, it’s a beautiful song that sets the tone for the rest

of the album.

Matching the title of the album, the song “Shore,” is the closing piece. This song includes a beautiful introduction on the piano that compliments the opening piece of the album — it’s as though “Wading in Waist-High Water” is the record’s sunrise and “Shore” is its sunset.

While Fleet Foxes’ past albums have only offered me a few songs to fall in love with, this album offers 15 unique songs that all deserve a listen. “Can I Believe You,” “A Long Way Past The Past,” “Young Man’s Game” and “Going-to-the-Sun Road” are among my favorites. I give “Shore” 4/5 stars.

@CollegiateTimes

sports

editor@collegiatetimes.com

October 6, 2020 PAGE 7

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Khalil Herbert powers Hokies to 38-31 victory over Blue Devils Hokies score four rushing touchdowns, two each from Braxton Burmeister and Herbert.

DEVIN SHEPARD sports editor

Khalil Herbert accounted for 358 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns Saturday night, helping Virginia Tech to a 38-31 victory against Duke, good for its second win of the season.

Presumed preseason starting quarterback Hendon Hooker didn’t play for a second straight week for unknown reasons. Oregon transfer Braxton Burmeister got the start but struggled in the passing game, completing only 38% of his passes for 163 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He helped the team in the run game, though, rushing for 54 yards and two touchdowns.

Duke came in with an 0-3 record, struggling to find its stride this season, and it will go into next week’s matchup against Syracuse still winless on the year.

“Shoutout to the boys up front,” Herbert said after the game. “All game long we just kept pushing, kept chopping at it.”

Herbert, a transfer from Kansas, generated big play after big play throughout the game.

He had kick returns of 83 and 42 yards on the day. He also had runs for 42, 23 and 60

the first half, a nice moment for the young player.

Brice, a transfer f rom Clemson, went 22/39 for 271 yards, a touchdown and an interception Saturday.

Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente seemed proud of his team after the game.

“Our kids continue to believe in the cause, control COURTESY OF HOKIESPORTS what they can control,” he said yards, boosting the Hokie offense. All in all, after the win.

Herbert generated 208 yards on the ground The Hokies have proven through two and 150 yards in the return game, leading the weeks that they have a dangerous rushing way for Virginia Tech. He is on pace for a attack, averaging 319 yards per game thus great season thus far, with 312 rushing yards far on the season. However, their passing and three touchdowns through his first two game will need to be better against tough games in a Hokie uniform.

ACC competition, as Burmeister was underFormer walk-on Tyler Matheny picked whelming in that aspect. The Virginia Tech off Blue Devil quarterback Chase Brice in defensive line played well, getting pressure

and playing with discipline in the run game.

However, the secondary showed its flaws with Caleb Farley opting out earlier this year and Jermaine Waller and Divine Deablo unavailable. Duke had 271 passing yards on the day, which is not ideal if the Hokies plan on continuing their early success this season.

Virginia Tech (2-0, 2-0 ACC) is now ranked No. 19 in the AP poll after their victory over the Blue Devils.

An impressive outing by the Hokies next week could vault them a few spots in the next AP poll. If they can beat No. 8 North Carolina (2-0, 2-0) next week, they should find themselves in the Top 15.

If quarterback Hendon Hooker is ready to go next week, Virginia Tech should have a chance against the surging Tar Heels.

However, if it gets a similar performance from Burmeister, it will be hard to beat a tough North Carolina team. Coach Fuente isn’t likely to waste much time dwelling on the Duke game as the Hokies have a very strong opponent coming up.

@CTSportsTalk

Virginia Tech women’s soccer remains winless after loss to Florida State Seminoles Florida State overpowered the Hokies in the second half for a four-goal win.

KATIE SMITH sports staff writer

The Virginia Tech women’s soccer team lost 4-0 to the Florida State Seminoles for its second home game of the season, moving it to a record of 0-4 for the 2020 season.

Virginia Tech struggled offensively with just a few opportunities to score, including a free kick from junior Emily Gray which was deflected and a cross from junior Emma Steigerwald that was stopped by Florida

State’s goalkeeper.

The Hokies stayed strong on defense during the first half until an own goal in the 44th minute giving Florida State a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Florida State dominated the second half with 15 shots on goal including a header from sophomore Jaelin Howell in the 76th minute to give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.

Ran Iwai also scored for the Seminoles off a rebounded shot off the post in the 70th minute followed by a goal from Jody Brown

in the 83rd minute after a Virginia Tech turnover.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper S.A. Phillips and senior defender Caroline Cipolla made their first career starts against the Seminoles while Emmalee McCarter started her 44th straight match for the Hokies, the longest active streak on the team.

Junior midfielder Grace Sklopan also started the match and is currently the only Hokie to play every minute of the 2020 season with 454 straight minutes.

The Hokies will look to improve their record against No. 14 Pittsburgh at Thompson Field on Sunday, Oct. 4.

@CTSportsTalk

PAGE 8 October 6, 2020

editor@collegiatetimes.com

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COURTESY OF HOKIESPORTS

Grading the Hokies: Virginia Tech vs. Duke Running backs receive high grade due to Khalil Herbert’s performance.

CLAIRE CASTAGNO & STEVEN ROWEN sports editor & sports staff writer

Offense:

Quarterbacks: B Coach Justin Fuente confirmed that Hendon Hooker would suit up for the Hokies’ game against Duke, however, only Braxton Burmeister saw the field against the Blue Devils. Burmeister did not start out too hot, misthrowing passes and rushing for only a few yards each play, resulting in repeated turnover on downs. However, Burmeister completed an important pass to James Mitchell in the endzone and ran for two touchdowns.

Running Backs: AAn A- might be a bit deceiving for the entire running backs unit, but Khalil Herbert had an outstanding game and is a big part of the reason why Virginia Tech is 2-0. He put up 358 all-purpose yards, 208 of those rushing, the seventh-most from a Hokie in a single game. Herbert rushed for two touchdowns, one of them off a 60-yard run.

Raheem Blackshear was behind Herbert with 47 rushing yards.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: C+ The wide receivers and tight ends did not stand out. Multiple dropped passes resulted in missed scoring opportunities. Mitchell scored a touchdown off a 12-yard pass from Burmeister, but no receivers found the endzone against the Blue Devils. Sophomore tight end Nick Gallo caught his first career pass for an 8-yard reception, but the Hokies were not able to really get the passing game going.

two sacks. Overall, the linebacking corps did a decent job at putting pressure on the quarterback, but at times struggled with plays in the open-field. Poor tackling was an issue for them and this led to a couple costly big runs by the Blue Devils.

Defensive Line: B+ The defensive line followed up its strong performance against N.C. State last week with another solid outing versus Duke.

Virginia Tech had seven sacks, led by lineman Emmanuel Belmar who had three on the night. They did a solid job of slowing down the run game, and while they allowed two rushing touchdowns, they held Duke to just 139 total rushing yards.

Defensive Backs: C The Hokies were playing without a majority of their secondary unit. Safety Divine Deablo and cornerbacks Devin Taylor, Brion Murray and Armani Chatman were all out for the game. Tyler Matheny stepped up for the Hokies and recorded an interception and seven tackles. The shorthanded secondary struggled at times to control the passing game and allowed 271 passing yards to Duke quarterback Chase Brice, who had been ice-cold coming into this matchup, throwing six interceptions in his previous two games. Hopefully, Virginia Tech will be closer to full strength for its game against North Carolina next week.

Linebackers: C+ The linebackers were led by Rayshard Ashby and Amare Barno against the Blue Devils. Ashby finished with 10 tackles and a sack, and Barno recorded four tackles and

Special Teams: CIt was a roller coaster game for Virginia Tech’s special teams. Duke’s first score of the game came on a dropped punt by the Hokies, which was recovered in the end zone

Defense:

by the Blue Devils. This was an avoidable mistake which gave Duke a free score and made the game closer than it should have been. The special teams unit bounced back after this with its efforts on kick returns.

Herbert returned three kicks for 150 yards, including an 83-yard return in the third quarter that set up a touchdown. Kicker Brian Johnson had an average night, making his only field goal attempt from 21 yards and five extra points. Other than the botched punt return, the special teams unit did a solid job setting up field position for the offense.

@CTSportsTalk