THE HOKIES ARE MISSING EVANS: BADLY

By Dan Harralson

Frank Beamer was asked a simple question and he gave a simple answer: "Do you feel as good about this team as you did three weeks ago?" a reporter asked Beamer on Wednesday.
"No," Beamer responded. "Three weeks ago we had Darren Evans." On August 11th, the sophomore standout suffered a season-ending knee injury. Evans broke Mike Imoh's single-game rushing record last season, recording 253 yards against Maryland. Evans is also the only Hokie to rush for a touchdown in each of his first six games. The 2006 Parade All-American is really going to missed even more now. The following three running backs on the depth chart have missed practice with injuries. David Wilson and Josh Oglesby returned to practice Tuesday after missing more than a week of fall camp. However, the two did show improvement in yesterday's final fall scrimmage. Wilson ran 10 times for 52 yards and Oglesby carried nine times for 44 yards. "You've got two [Wilson and Oglesby] there that you're counting on, one never has been in a game and one has been in very little, and they've missed a lot of work," Beamer said. "Running backs is kinda the one thing right now that's up in the air a little bit. Guys got hurt at the wrong time. But that's the way it is. We've just got to be good in this last week and a half." Running backs coach Billy Hite chimed in saying, "Each got some carries, did some blocking, two disappointing things were both Josh and David missed a blitz pickup. They had the right guy and just didn't get them down. There's no excuse for that. Yes, that's a sack, and [the Tide] will try to break the quarterback's pads while they're doing it on top of it."
On Wilson's fumbling in practice:
"It's the first time for Wilson, I told him you're allowed one for the year, and you got yours over with today."
Hite on who replaces Evans:
"I am going to use all three, I still haven't figured out how I'm going to do it or who's going to start yet, but I guarantee you will end up seeing all three of them in there at some point. Right now, it's just getting their timing and reads right on certain plays."