Virginia Tech's Darren Evans in a rush to get back onto the field

BLACKSBURG, VA. -- Virginia Tech running back Darren Evans had been jogging on a treadmill for 10 minutes when sweat started beading on his forehead. He wore a maroon skullcap over his dreadlocks and a black brace over his surgically repaired left knee.

When Evans began to rehabilitate his knee, the simple act of movement was a struggle.

"It was like starting all over again, trying to walk and run and stuff," he said. "It was weird."

But during a recent workout, Evans ran, jumped, squatted and balanced on one leg. And last week, Evans practiced with the team in non-contact drills for the first time since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in August. Even though Evans is unlikely to play this season, he was so excited to return that teammates overheard him talking to his equipment, telling his helmet and shoulder pads while dressing that he missed them.

"Just seeing him recover that fast is a plus for us," wide receiver Dyrell Roberts said, "because when he gets back, we know the talent that we have."

The No. 16 Hokies (7-3, 4-2 ACC) hope Saturday's game against North Carolina State (4-6, 1-5) will be the last time Evans wears street clothes on the sideline in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is scheduled to open its season next year on Sept. 4 against Central Michigan. For Evans, the 289 days between now and then cannot go fast enough.

Evans has attended Virginia Tech's home games this season but has stayed behind in Blacksburg for road games; injured players do not travel with the team. While Evans has missed playing, he said he has stayed connected to the program by attending running backs' meetings on Monday mornings and hanging out with his teammates away from the field.

The team's trainers and physicians assigned to Evans have marveled at how quickly he has reached the various plateaus in the stages of his recovery. He has benefited, they said, from an ethic that does not allow for missed workouts and an uncanny athletic and mental capacity that has helped him adapt rapidly to each new phase of his recovery.

"I think he's made a great recovery," Coach Frank Beamer said. "He's a dedicated guy. That's the way he's played; that's the way he's gone about his rehab. You know what you're going to get from Darren every day. I think that's what's got him back so fast."

'It's a lot of work'

In a preseason practice on Aug. 7, Evans crumpled to the ground after stepping on a teammate's foot. Evans did not undergo an MRI exam because trainers could not feel structural damage to the knee as a result of his muscular build.

Four days later, Evans returned full-speed to practice but slipped while making a cut, and a subsequent MRI confirmed that his ACL was torn. Evans underwent surgery to repair the knee on Aug. 14.

"It's a lot of work, Day One to now," Evans said. "Right out of surgery, I couldn't even lift my leg up."