BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech football team will open its home schedule with a “White Out” for the second-straight year in a continued effort to promote reading across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Hokies will wear white uniforms and a special helmet for their 2009 home opener against Marshall University, which will start at 1:30 p.m., on Sept. 12 at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field.

New White Out T-shirts for the game are already available to purchase from the University Bookstores. The shirts are also available on line at www.bookstore.vt.edu. The shirts sell for $6 and the proceeds from the sales will go to Herma’s Readers, a non-profit organization that promotes the power of reading and literacy to youngsters during their formative years, grades K-3. The organization is a tribute to Tech coach Frank Beamer’s late mother, Herma Beamer, who taught in Virginia for over 30 years.

During the game with Marshall, the Hokies will wear maroon helmets with orange and white stripes and the old T within the V logo, in honor of Tech great Frank Loria. The helmet is a replica of the one worn by Loria during a brilliant Tech career. The Clarksburg, W.Va., native earned first-team All-America honors at safety in 1966 and went on to become Virginia Tech’s first consensus All-American as a senior in 1968.

Loria was a member of the Marshall University coaching staff when he died in the tragic Marshall plane crash in 1970. Loria was selected a charter member when the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1982.