Kyle Swanson / SPPSKenny Lewis Jr. finds running room during the Hokies' win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. Lewis has 269 yards and three touchdowns in 2008.
Fans saw Tyrod Taylor hand Lewis the ball on a traditional running play early in the second half, but were upset to see him fall to the ground without any contact, thinking he had slipped up and just given the Hokies a five-yard loss.
Lewis knew right away.
"Brandon Dillard had the same thing," he said. "Talking to the guys and him telling us what had happened, he said it felt like someone hit him in the back with a bat or stick or something like that. Well, mine felt way worse than getting hit with a little stick."
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, "Injuries to your Achilles tendon result from repeated stress on the tendon, which may be caused or aggravated by overuse, poor stretching, and tight calf muscles," among other things. After surgery, "you'll need to spend about six to eight weeks with your leg in a walking boot, cast, brace or splint."
Lewis, who had secured the starting spot at tailback for the Hokies this fall, was the eldest and most experienced of Tech's running back core. As a junior, Lewis was a kind of mentor to the other backs as well.
"He's been the greatest thing in the world for Evans and Oglesby," said Tech running backs coach Billy Hite. "He was almost like a father to those guys, really helping them out."
Taylor sees the loss of Lewis as deflating to the team.
"It hurts a lot because he was very vocal; guys feed off of his enthusiasm. To see him go down was kind of hard for us," Taylor said. "He was an offensive leader, it's going to hurt. Hopefully we'll have some guys that will go in there and step up."
With Lewis out of the picture now, the running back rotation is obviously changing. Some fans may recall the redshirting of freshman Ryan Williams last month, mainly because Tech already had three backs. With one of them now gone, questions may arise as to his redshirt being lifted.
"I don't think we want to do that right now," said Tech head coach Frank Beamer. "Where we are, I don't think that we would go in that direction. He's certainly got a great future ahead of him, no question about that, but I think for this year, sitting will be good for him."
Since Beamer is not planning to remove Williams' redshirt, this leaves Darren Evans and Josh Oglesby as Tech's remaining backs. Both are redshirt freshmen.
Despite being the second-string back until now, Evans is leading Tech in rushing yards with 415 netted so far this season on 98 carries, in addition to eight touchdowns.
Oglesby is fourth in rushing yards with 35 total yards on 15 carries.
Hite said Tech will continue to rotate its remaining backs.
"I don't want to play just one tailback; I want to play two. We will split the carries and whoever's got the hot hand, that's who I'm going to go with."
Hite was able to speak with Lewis during and after Saturday's game.
"I just told him, 'Kenny, it's not fair and I'm sorry it happened to you. What I need you to do is stay with us and fight your ass off to come back.'" "He was just crushed, he really is. He can barely even talk. It's just a shame, it really is."
This marks the second week in a row that a Tech football player has suffered a season-ending injury. Two weeks ago against Nebraska, sophomore starting rover Davon Morgan tore the anterior cruciate ligament, more commonly referred to as the ACL, in his right knee during a kickoff return. He is also out for the season.
"That happened two times in two weeks," Beamer said. "They -- Davon and Kenny -- are two of the same people. Davon on defense, his personality is positive and you hate to see him down. With Kenny, he's a positive guy and an effort guy. We lost two not only good players, but two guys who are good for this football team."
Beamer's learning to deal with a young class.
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