Reaction to RB Darren Evans' season-ending ACL injury ...

Terrible news for the Hokies tonight. Worse news for starting RB Darren Evans. As many of you likely know by now, Evans went down with a torn ACL in today’s practice. Although it seems quite possible Evans did the most damage last Friday, when he stepped on lineman’s foot and suffered what was thought to be a sprain.

But Evans had described hearing a “pop” that day and said he was still only “70 percent” when I spoke to him yesterday. After three practices in a blue, non-contact jersey, he returned to full-speed practice today.

At some point during the proceedings, he went down again. Now it is clear his season is done. The Hokies have plenty of backs who folks are excited about. But between them, Josh Oglesby, Ryan Williams and David Wilson have just 38 college carries.

Evans set a freshman record with almost 1,300 yards last season.

I was able to track down RB coach Billy Hite for a very somber reaction to the news. He had red eyes and seemed genuinely distraught – understandably. Here are his thoughts:

RB COACH BILLY HITE

ON HOW EVANS WAS INJURED: “He was running a route, planted, and just went down. Just like the other day when he stepped on the guy’s foot. I think he (tore) it the other day. The problem with that is: He’s so strong, there was nothing loose in his knee. A normal person, that leg would fall off, it would be that loose. But that’s how tough he is. He really didn’t even plant or cut hard. It just went.”

ON HIS REACTION TO THE NEWS: “It’s devastating. Obviously he is (devastated) right now. Taneesha, his girlfriend, came over and she had baby James. She’s a basket case. The boy’s put so much into it. It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s not fair. It is part of the game. I told him that. We’re going to fight our (butt) off and he’s going to be back out there next year.”

ON WHETHER EVANS KNEW IMMEDIATELY: “I think so. I really do. And it’s what I told you the other day: You can’t ever have enough backs. Each one of them is going to have to take a step up, kick it up a notch. David Wilson is going to have to get ready to play now. (Josh) Oglesby will move up to No. 1 right now. Ryan (Williams) had a good scrimmage today. We’ve got three really good tailbacks, still. Any time you lose a guy like that, sure it hurts your football team. But we’re all going to pull together and bounce back.”

ON LOTS OF TALENT LEFT BUT ONLY 38 COLLEGE CARRIES BETWEEN THE REMAINING BACKS, ALL OF THEM FOR OGLESBY: “It’s the same as last year. Going into it, you weren’t sure what you had. I think these guys are special guys. I think they’ll probably be even better now knowing that they have to get themselves ready to play.”

ON WHETHER HE KNEW RIGHT AWAY: “That’s the first thing I said the other day. I’ve seen too many injuries like that. I saw Lee Suggs do the same thing. A non-contact injury. Just the way he went down, I thought the other day that’s exactly what it was. I just feel so bad for him. He’s a great competitor. I know him well enough that he’ll be ready to play next year.”

ON THERE BEING NO WAY TO KNOW IT WAS ALREADY DAMAGED: “No. He was out there running wind sprints full speed yesterday. He’s so strong, I’m sure the muscles masked what really happened the other day. He’s gone through (drills) and run routes. Watching him run sprints yesterday, I’m licking my chops. I feel good that he’s going to be back today.”

ON EVANS’ FUTURE: “With surgeries today, that knee will be stronger and better than he was before he hurt it. He’s that kind of competitor, that he’ll make sure it gets that way. I just feel bad. The last two years: For Kenny Lewis to go down the way he did, and now Darren Evans, it’s a damn shame. Two great kids. You can’t find two better kids. This game is crazy sometimes. I’ll never be able to figure it out.”

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