KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

UNC running back Ryan Houston (32) is tackled by Virginia Tech's Nekos Brown (47) and Kam Chancellor (17) during the second quarter of Thursday night's game at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg.

BLACKSBURG -- After suffering a season-ending ACL injury in mid-August, Virginia Tech tailback Darren Evans made a prediction: He said his replacement, Ryan Williams, would break his freshman records.

Evans knew what he was talking about. Entering Tech's eighth game Thursday night against North Carolina, Williams already had tied Evans mark for touchdowns in a season (11) and is on pace to break his record for most rushing yards in a season (1,265).

"I laughed it off and didn't pay any mind to it," said Williams on Tuesday, when asked his reaction to Evans' premonitions. "I really didn't think that the season would go as it's going right now. I really didn't say, "Yeah, I want to' or anything like that.

"I try not to chase anything. I never really try to chase any goals or try to chase a certain number or anything of that sort, because I think when you start thinking that way or playing that way, you tend to lose focus, and you start thinking about yourself and not about what's important, and that's the team."

Entering the UNC game, the 5-foot-10, 206-pound redshirt freshman had run for 100 or more yards five times in eight games, one more than Evans did last season. His 834 rushing yards was only 431 yards short of Evans' mark.

Double duty for Bowden

Hokies senior punter Brent Bowden, an accomplished heavy metal guitarist, took care of Thursday night's version of "Enter Sandman," the Hokies' Lane entrance song in pregame. Bowden's version of the Metallica hit was recorded last week on camera and was played mixed in with the usual entrance video as he and his teammates poured from the stadium tunnel onto Worsham Field.

Fashion statement

The Hokies wore their orange jerseys Thursday night. It marked the first time under Frank Beamer in which they wore the orange jerseys with maroon pants. Tech has worn orange jerseys six times in Beamer's 23-year tenure.

Quick kicks

Defensive tackle John Graves (ankle) and left guard Sergio Render (strained pec) started for Tech. ... The Hokies lost the pregame coin toss again Thursday. They are 0-8 this season in coin tosses. ... UNC's roster included eight players from Virginia. Tar Heels freshman quarterback Bryn Renner of West Springfield High is the son of Bill Renner, a punter at Tech from 1979-82 before playing in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. ... Representatives of the Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl and Florida Citrus Sports Bowl attended the game. ... NFL scouts from Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota and the New York Giants were on hand.

On deck

The Hokies will make a second consecutive appearance on ESPN's Thursday night showcase game next week when they play at East Carolina. Coach Skip Holtz's club improved to 5-3 on Wednesday night with a 38-19 Conference USA romp at Memphis.

ECU upset Tech 27-22 in last season's opener at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., when T.J. Lee blocked a punt and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown with 1:27 to play. The victory snapped Tech's six-game winning streak in a series it leads, 9-5.