Published: November 10, 2008 10:57 pm         

Evans gets belated notice as Hokies' run leader

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Darren Evans had quietly been leading the Virginia Tech football team in rushing yards through eight games.

It was his ninth game that quiet turned to noisy. A school record 253 yards on 32 carries produced plenty of noise, and earned him the ACC Offensive Back of the Week award.

“I knew I could do it. Deep inside of me I never doubted myself, but I have had people say I couldn’t do this,” said Evans, a 6-foot, 215-pound redshirt freshman from Indianapolis. “I heard people this week tell me I wouldn’t get over 100 yards just because we haven’t been getting over 100 yards.

“That was just building up my fire.”

Evans, whose previous high this season had been 94 yards, had 116 at the break, and didn’t slow down in the second half of the Hokies’ 23-13 ACC win last Thursday over Maryland. He had seven runs of at least 10 yards, including gains of 50 and 45, breaking the school record of 243 set by Mike Imoh against North Carolina in 2004.

Even Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring was a little surprised that it was Evans who broke the mark in just his ninth collegiate game.

“Mike had a terrific day at North Carolina, but for Darren Evans to come out there and to do what he did...” Stinespring said. “I think if Kevin Jones went out here and busted a few hundred yards, that wouldn’t have shocked anyone based upon previous performances within the offense and within the individual.

“Any time you see something take place and nobody had the heads up, that means a great deal.”

Evans, who now has 772 yards and nine touchdowns on the season, had a previous high of 94 in a win over Georgia Tech. He became the first back this season to reach the century mark for the Hokies. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who missed Thursday’s game with a high ankle sprain, has had a pair of 100-yard games this season on the ground.

“I know I don’t have that Noel Devine-type speed, but I do feel like I can be a good running back,” said Evans, who has scored at least one touchdown in seven games, including the first six games this season. “It’s big to come out and have a big game on Thursday night at our home when we needed it most. To have a performance like that was big for me.”

And for Virginia Tech. Much had been made this season about the lack of offense produced by the Hokies. Evans figured the Hokies picked the right time to quiet the skeptics.

“It’s big, it’s Thursday night, it’s at home, and it’s when we needed it the most,” Evans said. “When we needed an offensive spark and when people have been saying our offense is not that good.

“This is a big confidence booster and it kind of proves to people that maybe they should shut their mouths a little bit.”

No one would like that more than Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who has been taking the blunt of the criticism for the Hokies’ offensive woes.

“We felt like we were going to have to run the ball, and we felt like we had an opportunity to run the ball,” said Stinespring, whose Hokies accumulated a season-high 400 offensive yards against the Terrapins . “Instead of getting what we could get or can get, (we emphasized) let’s get the extra yards, let’s stay on blocks longer, let’s break tackles and be sure to run the ball well enough to incorporate your will on the opponent.

“I don’t know if we got to that, but we certainly gave it a try.”

Evans seemed to do just that. He got better as the game went along, accumulating four of his seven double-digit yard carries in the second half, including runs of 20, 12 and 29 yards on the game’s final drive.

“I’ve got to give a lot of the credit to the offensive line, they were making humongous holes, anybody could have run through them,” Evans said. “The offensive line was just getting off the ball and hitting the defense line in the mouth...We just kept hitting them in the mouth and coach (Billy) Hite just kept giving me the ball. I was just the lucky back tonight.”

Virginia Tech returned to a physical brand of football against the Terrapins. Evans felt Maryland simply weakened as the game went along.

“After a while I did feel it coming, we were hitting them in the mouth, and they didn’t want to hit us after a while,” Evans said. “They were coming up a little timid, a good example of that was No. 1. I seen it in his eyes, he didn’t want to hit me.”

After the game, Evans claimed that he had a feeling something special was going to happen on this night.

“I knew at the beginning of the game when we ran out of the tunnel and at how loud the crowd was and how everybody was pumped up,” said Evans, who also had two catches for 20 yards, and has five catches for 34 yards this season. “I knew it would be a good night.”

But, this good? Josh Oglesby and Jahre Cheeseman were also expected get carries against the Terrapins. Oglesby got one, Cheeseman none. Hokies’ running back coach Billy Hite kept turning to Evans.

“I knew when coach Hite kept putting me out there instead of J.O. or Cheeseman, I knew that is when he kind of felt like it was my turn,” Evans said. “I look up to him and if he wants me to go do it, then I’m going to go do it.

“I think I heard or read that whoever has the hot hand, he would keep giving him the ball, and after a while I kind of noticed that I was doing pretty good and he wasn’t taking me out of the game.”

Evans, an import from Indianapolis, arrived at Virginia Tech last season, coming off a senior prep campaign that included 2,806 yards and amazing 61 touchdowns, the fourth highest recorded total in prep history.

In four years, Evans led Warren Central to four Class 5A state titles, finishing with 7,220 yards, 127 touchdowns, and ran for 50 yards or more 40 times in his career. No wonder he never doubted his ability to play at the next level.

“I never had any doubt at all,” said Evans, who has a two-year-old son, James. “I’m not saying that to be cocky or anything, I knew deep down inside that as long as I kept my head in the playbook and I kept going hard and just thanking God for this ability that I have, I knew that sooner or later this day would come.”

Virginia Tech has produced many talented running backs over the years, including Kevin Jones, Cyrus Lawrence, Lee Suggs, Branden Ore and Shyrone Stith. Evans has added his name to the record book. He hopes to keep re-writing records deep into the future.

“This is big, I’m just a freshman, a lot of people have been talking about that,” Evans said. “I’ve got some good years ahead of me as long as I stay healthy and keep my head straight, and I plan on doing that.”

Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-2) will travel to Coastal Division foe Miami (6-3, 3-2) on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. contest that will be televised by ESPN.

—Contact Brian Woodson at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

     

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