Bad news for the Virginia Tech football team just came into the inbox. Darren Evans, the Hokies’ sophomore tailback, will miss the 2009 season after suffering a severe knee injury in practice today. Evans tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Said Hokies trainer Mike Goforth in a statement: “Darren Evans suffered a left knee ACL tear this afternoon. He was evaluated by Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr. Gunnar Brolinson and received an MRI at Montgomery Regional Hospital that showed the ACL tear. He will be re-evaluated later this week to see when the ACL reconstruction surgery will take place. Our hope is to be able to repair the knee prior to classes starting so that he can get started on his rehab and continue his course work. Obviously we are all saddened by the results of his MRI, but we all know what type of young man Darren is and we have no doubt that he will come back stronger than ever.”
As a redshirt freshman last season, Evans rushed for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was named the Most Valuable Player in Tech’s victory over Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl. From Evansville, Ind., Evans set the school’s single-game rushing record with 253 against the University of Maryland.
With Evans out, the Hokies will have to turn to redshirt freshman Ryan Williams, senior Kenny Lewis (who is returning from an Achilles injury and will miss the first part of the season) or sophomore Josh Oglesby. In limited action, Oglesby rushed for 88 yards. Lewis rushed for 237 yards before being injuried six games into the 2008 season. Another possibility? True freshman David Wilson of Danville, who rushed 2,291 yards and 35 touchdowns his senior season.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
It’d be really helpful if you linked to each of your blog posts as you make them!
Hey UVAFool – thanks for the suggestion. They generate an automatic Twitter feed (@VaSportsNow) if you use that. I try to link on our Facebook page, too.
Where else would you suggest?
Thanks for reading.
I know quite a few Tech fans who are not excited about this news.
If they let David Wilson on the field, they might not ever get him off.
While the injury is bad news for VT, they do have some decent depth at this position. While untested, Ryan Williams and Wilson come in with great credentials…
Dealing with adversity, some get stronger…..
Hell, Evans came out of nowhere last year. Let’s hope one of those other guys can do the same thing.
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