No Evans? No problem

Here we go again.

That has been a common sentiment during defensive meetings over the past six weeks as Virginia faced off against four teams that were ranked among the top 18 in the country.

Saturday’s finale is no different — Virginia Tech (8-3, 5-2 ACC) is ranked No. 14 in the nation and boasts one of the league’s best ground attacks.

Despite losing Darren Evans early in the season, the Hokies have the 18th-best rushing offense in the FBS thanks to the efforts of freshman tailback Ryan Williams.

On the season, Williams ranks fifth with 1,355 yards on the ground.

Those numbers, which broke Evans’ rookie record at Virginia Tech, seem staggering for a player just two years removed from high school. That is not the case, however, according to Virginia coach Al Groh.

“No surprise at all. Only to anybody who never saw him play before,” he explained. “He was one of the most sought-after running backs in the country as a high school senior.

“I think he’s probably playing pretty much the way that everybody who was involved in his recruiting thought he was going to.”

Williams, who averages an ACC-best 123.2 yards per game on the ground, has help.

Virginia Tech is one of the few teams in the ACC with a true dual-threat quarterback.

Tyrod Taylor, a junior, is among the most efficient passers in the country and has the athleticism to leave the pocket and run.

“It’s like playing against 12 players,” Groh said. “Tyrod, at least in conference games, is first in the conference in passing efficiency, so he’s obviously doing the principal thing that quarterbacks have to do … and their yards per catch is extraordinary this year as a result of his passing.

“But the threat that he poses as a runner or just as a passer out of the pocket, sometimes it’s more challenging when he’s just out of the pocket — and it doesn’t show up in passing statistics, but that’s what distorts the structure of coverages, when the quarterback is out and moving.”

Aaron Clark, a senior linebacker at Virginia, said the team will have to play assignment football, something that was the case against Georgia Tech to a different degree.

“You have to know where you fit on the plays,” he said. “Taylor can burn you if you don’t contain him.”

The biggest problem, however, comes when plays actually appear to have broken down.

“They clearly had anticipated using his skills showing up that way, so you can see where the receivers are well schooled in terms of how to adjust their routes,” Groh said. “It’s pretty evident that there’s been a good deal of attention spent on doing the scramble drill with the receivers to adjust to the quarterback, and tricky on their part because sometimes they’ve got to adjust two or three times because it’s not just in one direction that he leaves the pocket.

“He ends up going in the other direction pretty quickly sometimes. So it’s very challenging for your rush guys.”