Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • C1

Akron assistant named men's soccer coach C4 JamaryUOlO fl I (( ll Richmond Times-Dispatch Sports Editor: Steve Trosky (804)649-6456 stroskytimesdispatch.com CHICK-FIL-A BOWL No. 12 Virginia Tech 37, Tennessee 14 Williams' emergence keyed Tech ATLANTA A Cv.f W- r. I he Virginia Tech Hokies began the 2009 football season in the worst possible way. JOE MAH0NEYT1MES-DBPATCH Williams carries the ball to the 1 yard line to set up the Hokies' first touchdown. wmk stroimg No, it wasn't the season-opening loss to Alabama here in the Georgia Dome that was so bad.

Instead, it was the loss of running back Darren Evans, the essential element in the Hokies' offense, to a major knee injury dur ing preseason drills. Evans' season was over before it began. The 2009 sea- PJUIL son ended for WOODY Virginia Tech withverygood news. Running back Ryan Williams led the Hokies to a resounding 37-14 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers in the Chick-fil-A Bowl here in the Georgia Dome. Not only that, Williams also set a single-season rushing record for the Hokies in the process.

He finished the year with 1,655 yards rushing in 13 games, surpassing the 1,647 of Kevin Jones in 2003. Football is a brutal game, a numbers game. Every team loses an important player or two along the way. A team is only as good as its backups. Williams has proved to be more than just a backup and more than just a fill-in during Evans' absence.

Williams is a star. Last night merely was a continuation of what he has done all season. Against Tennessee, Williams gained 117 yards on 25 carries. He did so by leaping, twisting, turning and overpowering Volunteer defenders. The only thing that stopped him was a sprained ankle late in the third quarter.

"He's for real," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "He can make a guy miss and run away from him. He can hurt someone when he runs through him. He can block, and he can catch the balL "He's got the whole package." The Hokies have an overabundance of talent at running back. Evans set Hokie hearts a twitter when he ran for 1,265 yards in 2008, an ACC freshman record.

The Virginia Tech offense was supposed to be built around Evans' running and the improved quarterback play of Tyrod Taylor this season. Taylor was ready to hold up his end of the bargain. Without Evans, it wasn't clear what the Hokies would do for a running attack. You could say they managed. That, however, would be an understatement.

Williams flashed brightly in the spring game. Beamer did not See WOODY, Page C6 scene of season-opening loss and crushes Tennessee from Atlanta Go to TimesDispatcti.com and see action from last night" Chick-fil-a Bowl game between Virginia Tech and Tennessee. Keyword: gallery. that the season, disappointing to the Hokies at times, almost certainly cannot be classified as a total disappointment. "A couple of the guys, we were talking about how this year we definitely had a national championship-caliber team," said sophomore tailback Josh Oglesby.

"But we bad some unfortunate losses. Just being able to pull all the pieces of the puzzle together right where we started it and go out showing everybody that we can play with the best of them." Their 10-3 record means they will finish in the Associated Press' top 15 for the third consecutive season a landmark they achieved with a convincing performance last See TECH, Page C6 BY DARRYL SLATER Times-Dispatch Staff Writer ATLANTA Almost four months ago, Virginia Tech's football season began inside the Georgia Dome, abuzz with fans and the Hokies' national-championship aspirations. Their season ended last night under the same white root with a similarly packed house, yet under circumstances far different than they wanted. There was no run at a national title, not even a berth in the ACC championship game. Those dreams were dashed by the end of October, after they lost to Alabama in the opener, then stumbled against Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

Still, the Hokies were able to enjoy the end last night, when they beat Tennessee 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, reached the 10-win mark for the sixth consecutive season and ended their struggles against teams from the Southeastern Conference. Though they desired greater things, last night's victory ensured Virginia Tech running back Ryan IU1 A Tech returns to Virginia Tech linebacker Cody receiver Qulntln Hancock for a the second quarter. WAKEFHEST74. UGHNONDdOT Torraw. Richmond atBucknell, 2 p.m.

oCta Wake's size too much for UR Recollections show both sides of Tiger JOE MAH0NEYT1MES-DBPATCH Grimm tackles Tennessee wide one-yard loss on a run during LAUREN CARROLLMEDIA GENERAL NEWS mgm Foul trouble hurts Spiders in OT loss to Demon Deacons BY JOHN O'CONNOR Times-Dispatch Staff Writer WINSTON-SALEM. N.C. The University of Richmond experienced difficult dealing with Wake Forest's size and depth inside. Outside, the Spiders dominated, with guard Kevin Anderson scoring a career-high 31 points. Wake beat up UR on the offensive glass and scored 29 points from the free-throw line to prevail 74-68 in overtime last night.

One huge shot also had a major impact on Richmond's 17th straight loss to Wake Forest, picked to finish sixth in the ACC. With Wake ahead 68-66, Demon Deacons' freshman forward Ari Stewart hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with two Spiders running at him at :19 in overtime and Woods' personal, professional lives collide by accident BY DOUG FERGUSON The Associated Press His rivals used to joke that if you cut Tiger Woods open, all you would find were some wires and a few nuts and bolts. Now they know better. Tom Watson, who won five British Opens himself, watched Woods carve up St. Andrews nearly a decade ago and called him "supernatural." The last month proved otherwise.

As another PGA Tour season starts without Woods, one question stands out: Did anyone really know him? Recollections point to a player who craved control inside his world of golf, only to with a few seconds on the shot clock. Stewart was zip for 4 from 3-point distance before delivering the dagger that sent a crowd of 10,210 into early-celebration mode on New Year's Eve. "It's tough to come away with this loss because we felt we should have won," said Anderson, who UR coach Chris Mooney recognized after the game as "one of the best guards in the country." Anderson, a 6-0 junior, hit 12 of 21 attempts, had three steals, and made a pair of 3-po inters. He also was UR's primary ballbandler. Demon Deacons coach Dino Gaudio seemed baffled by what to do with Anderson.

Wake switched 6-4 L.D. Williams, one of the ACC's finest defenders, onto Anderson early in the first half. test his limits outside of it. During a trip to New Zealand for his caddie's wedding, Woods went bungee jumping off a cable car suspended 440 feet over a river valley. On the same trip, he climbed behind the wheel of a race car and traded paint with the competition on a dirt track.

Woods spent a week at Fort Bragg going through Special Forces training with the Marines and became a master scuba diver, capable of holding his breath for four minutes at a time while exploring the ocean. It was one of his tales from under the sea that first gave his colleagues pause. Woods was having lunch at Firestone Country Club in 2003, regaling Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn with stories about diving and spear-fishing. He could stay on the ocean floor even longer, See WOODS, Page C2 "1 SERVICE The University of Richmond's Darrlus Garrett (1) and Kevin Smith block a shot attempt during See SPIDERS, Page C6 regulation by Wake Forest's Gary Clark..