Collegiate Times

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After tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during preseason practice and missing all of last season, Virginia Tech running back Darren Evans is hungry.

Evans is sick of being asked how he’s feeling and can’t wait to get on the field come Sept. 6 when the No. 6 Hokies open up the season against No. 5 Boise State in Landover, Md.

“I was saying before, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question, I’d be rich,” Evans said. “I feel good. It’s fixed, I know it’s fixed and I’m ready to play football.”

According to Tech trainer Mike Goforth, Evans has been full-go for about a month and a half. At the Hokies’ first practice of the summer, the former Orange Bowl MVP looked fitter than ever, working without a brace or sleeve on his previously injured left knee.

While reporters and fans may question his ability to bounce back from such a serious injury, there are no questions in the Hokies’ locker room.

“Usually when people get hurt, you know, they usually start to beef up a little bit or maybe start to gain a little weight,” explained Tech tight end Andre Smith. “But, I tell you what — his work ethic throughout this injury, to me… he’s gotten just as more cut and ripped as ever.

“I know that he’s ready to go full-tilt. I feel like he’s back to what he was – maybe even stronger and better than before, and I’m definitely anticipating a great season from him,” Smith said.

In 2008, Evans exploded onto the scene, improving with every carry. He began his career by becoming the first Tech player to score a touchdown in each of his first six games. In the ninth game of his college career, he set a school single-game record against the University of Maryland, rushing for 253 yards. 

When the season was over, Evans had carried the ball 287 times, gaining 1265 yards while scoring 11 touchdowns. His accomplishments earned him a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and second-team All-America honors from Sporting News.

Then, as he was preparing for his encore season last August, his knee gave out.

But when the door slammed shut on Evans’ season, a young, charismatic redshirt freshman named Ryan Williams stepped up to the plate — and hit a home run.

Unexpectedly, Williams picked up right where Evans left off.

Rushing for a school-record 1655 yards, breaking ACC season marks for both yards and touchdowns, scoring 22 times in 2009, Williams established himself as one of the best running backs in the nation and the best in Hokies history.

Evans says he learned more than just how to be humble from watching his teammate break records from the sidelines.

“(I learned) another outlook from reading defenses and finding holes and different things,” Evans said. “The way he moves and stuff, you can’t do anything but try to imitate it and learn from it. I mean, he gets out of jams. When you get the ball, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

When the Tech football team hit the practice fields for the first time last week, it had arguably the two best running backs in the ACC on its side.

While it sounds like nothing but a luxury, the situation in Tech’s backfield does pose its problems.

How will the two backs get along when one’s number is called, but the other’s is not?

“I mean, it really don’t matter to me,” Williams said Saturday. “For real. It’s a two-back system and it was really supposed to happen last year if he wouldn’t have went down with the injury.

“I’m used to it. I did it all through high school and I know high school and the college level is very different, but as far as sharing time — I really don’t think there’s much of a difference when you’re sharing the backfield with a quality running back,” he said.

Williams did admit though, that at times, it would be tough to come out of the game.

“We probably won’t want to come out of the game, regardless of the situation,” he said. “But, it makes us feel a lot better just knowing if we’re tired or if we need a break, that I know — If I come out of the game, he’s going to handle business and vice versa… We’re going to alternate and we’re both going to do what we need to do to help the team win.”

Evans agreed.

“However it works out, it works out. I know it’s important to get into a rhythm, but I think it’d be easier to get into a rhythm if we’re both fresh and feeding off of what each other is doing,” Evans said. “If he breaks a long run and gets tired, I’m going to be so hyped after that, that I’m going to be wanting to do it too.”

 “It’s a good look,” Williams added.

While there is certainly competition in preseason practice as the two show their stuff, yearning for as many carries as they can get this season, the two backs feel more like competitive brothers than schoolyard rivals.

“I mean — that’s like my big brother,” Williams said about his teammate. “I think that bond that we’ve built is going to make what we have on the field a lot better.”

“I look at him as a brother, too,” Evans remarked. “I’ve learned a lot from him, watching him play, just by us talking. We’ve got a lot more in common than just football. Like I said, I’m excited.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Aug 12 issue of the Collegiate Times.