Evans-Williams Combo Looks Great For Hokies

Almost nine months after tearing his left ACL, Darren Evans is ready to tear off touchdown runs once again.

Evans, once the featured tailback in the Virginia Tech backfield, will suit it up for the annual Maroon-White game in Lane Stadium on April 24.

“My knee is feeling good, I feel I can do it,” said Evans.

Last August, Evans tore his left ACL during a summer practice, ending the star tailback’s season before it began. The Hokie running back position, as clear as it had ever been entering a football season, became cloudy in a hurry.

Enter … Ryan Williams.

The redshirt freshman sensation took Evans’ starting job and the rest is history, as in Virginia Tech and ACC record history. The highly touted Williams set Virginia Tech and ACC records for a freshman with 1,655 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns on his way to ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Williams didn’t stop there, capturing the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl MVP award with a 117-yard, two-touchdown effort in a 37-14 rout of Tennessee.

Williams heads into his sophomore campaign as one of the favorites for college football’s ultimate individual honor, the Heisman Memorial Trophy.

But the story here is the return of Evans, who held those records before Williams’ breakout 2009 season.

In 2008, Evans, a blue-chip prep star himself, rushed for a then-ACC freshman record 1,265 yards. He capped his record-setting freshman campaign with a 153-yard, one-touchdown performance in the 2009 Orange Bowl Game against Cincinnati. The Hokies beat the Bearcats 20-7 and Evans was named the game’s MVP.

Evans said he is now back at 100 percent and ready to contribute to an offense loaded with experienced talent at nearly every skill position.

“This is what I know how to do,” said Evans. “I have no other plans but to play the hardest I can play, run the hardest I can run.”

His return makes this year’s Hokie backfield, arguably, the best ever. Billy Hite, long-time Virginia Tech associate head coach and running backs coach, agrees.

“From top to bottom, it’s the best group I’ve ever had,” said Hite, who’s excited to see Evans healthy and practicing again.

Hite said Evans’ knee looks and feels great, and that it showed in practice. He believes Evans has what it takes to regain his 2008 form, so long as he can overcome the mental challenge of taking a hit again.

“I think Darren needs to get his confidence back, know that his knee is stronger than what it was before and go back and be the same Darren he was before he got hurt,” said Hite.

If that’s the case, as Hite suggested, then the Hokies lose nothing when Williams is given a rest, and nobody is happier to hear that than Williams. “To be able to have a guy with experience who is very talented … to be able to fill-in at times and even take over at times … to have somebody like Darren back there is great,” said Williams.

Both Williams and Evans head into the spring game tied atop the depth chart, according to Hite.

“This spring, it’s going to be great competition with those running backs to see who’s going to be the starter. The competition aside, Hite wants everybody to go out and have fun and enjoy the spring game in what he calls a “great atmosphere.”

Last year’s game drew 40,000 spectators, according to Hite, who expects no different this April.

“People are so excited about Virginia Tech football … I think there’s going to be a lot of people here again.”