Hokies lose RB Lewis but have depth
Kenny Lewis Jr., No. 18 Virginia Tech’s starting running back – at least in name, will miss the rest of the season after injuring his knee in Saturday’s 27-13 win over Western Kentucky.
The junior took a handoff early in the third quarter and quickly crumpled to the ground. The diagnosis came quickly: Ruptured left Achilles, done for the year.
Lewis, who started each of Tech’s six games this year, is only the team’s third-leading rusher with 237 yards and three touchdowns in 64 carries. He had 38 yards in seven attempts against the Hilltoppers.
Freshman Darren Evans, who leads the Hokies with 415 yards and eight TDs in 98 attempts, now becomes the official No. 1 tailback. You could argue he already was carrying the load of a starter.
“It adds a little more responsibility because I was second in line,” Evans said. “It brings a little more pressure as well.”
Another freshman, Josh Oglesby, figures to become the No. 2 man behind Evans. Oglesby had seven carries for 19 yards Saturday.
“I think me and Josh will split the carries,” said Evans. “I don’t think it will be a dropoff. It’s kinda of a wake-up call for us now because Kenny was our leader. He was the one who pushed us in practice … so we’ll have to pick it up. For that voice not to be around is going to be tough for us.”
The loss of Lewis will be felt less in terms of production than perhaps in terms of intangibles. Running backs coach Billy Hite described Lewis, a vocal and spiritual leader for the Hokies, as a “father figure” for the team’s younger running backs.
“Kenny Lewis leads basically everything, to be honest with you,” tight end Greg Boone said. “He’s probably the overall team captain.”
After playing six consecutive Saturdays to start the season, the Hokies, who have won five in a row, are off this week before traveling to Boston College on Oct. 18 – bet on the game at WagerWeb.com.
“If you give me the choice of being 5-1 after our first [six] games, I would have taken that in a heartbeat with how young we were,” Coach Frank Beamer said. “It’s a hard schedule, and now we go to Miami, and we go to Florida State and we go to Boston College. Five-and-one sounds pretty good, but we’ve still got our work cut out for us.”
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