For the last two weeks, Leonte Carroo was virtually nowhere to be found.
After catching five balls for 135 yards, three touchdowns — including one late which put Rutgers on the verge of a win — the Scarlet Knights wide receiver was mysteriously absent from the game plans against Norfolk State and Eastern Michigan. Two games, one catch and only 22 yards. So, heading into the Arkansas game, Carroo began to hear the whispers about whether or not he was a one-hit wonder.
Well, questions answered. For Carroo and for Rutgers.
The true sophomore from Edison caught two touchdown’s in the game’s final quarter as the Scarlet Knights pulled off a 28-24 comeback against the Razorbacks. Down 24-7 with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter, Rutgers scored 21 unanswered points to blindside Arkansas and stick an exclamation point at the end of its non-conference schedule.
The comeback though, doesn’t happen without the hands of the 6-foot-1 wide receiver.
Carroo’s two touchdowns in a five-minute span in the final quarter — one of 33 yards and the second from four yards out — reversed the course of a game which appeared to be heading in one direction.
A bad one.
The offense had been stagnant for much of the day, with Rutgers (3-1) having two chances early in the game inside of the Arkansas (3-1) 20-yard line only to come away with zero points. (The first time was a fumble on a botched handoff and the second a missed field goal by Kyle Federico.) Then quarterback Gary Nova’s two turnovers later in the game would compound the problem.
Nova was intercepted inside his own 20-yard line at the end of the first quarter back by Arkansas defensive back Tevin Mitchel, who returned it for a touchdown. Then in the third quarter, Nova fumbled again on a botched handoff attempt — this time to fullback Michael Burton — which led to a touchdown on a trick play by Arkansas.
That put it at 24-7 and had Rutgers staring at the wrong side of a bad day. Then came the scare with running back Paul James.
The nation’s leading rusher entering the game and the centerpiece to Rutgers’ offense so far this season, was lying on his back with a trainer examining his right leg. James would eventually walk off on his own, get treatment on the sidelines and then re-enter the game. Two plays later, a fading crowd at High Point Solutions Stadium then held its breath again.
This was 6:14 p.m. now and in the opening series of the game’s final quarter against Arkansas, James was once again on the ground, confused and upset — as trainers looked at the same leg. Replays showed the Scarlet Knights’ running back just went down and stayed there.
So far in the season’s first three weeks, James had been a revelation — vaulting from an unknown on the bench to an offensive dynamo. He was coming off of back-to-back three-touchdown games, each with over 100 yards rushing. With Rutgers’ passing game still trying to find its identity after the whirlwind season-opening performance against Fresno State, James became the Scarlet Knights’ main offensive weapon.
But he spent the final 13-plus minutes of Saturday’s game against Arkansas inside the team facility after suffering what appeared to be an injury of his lower right leg. The second time gave Rutgers’ medical staff cause for concern, enough to not let him try and work his way back onto the field.
When James went down the first time towards the end of the third quarter, as many as six members of the Scarlet Knights’ staff were examining him and testing the stability of his leg. He did single-leg hops, light sprints along the length of the team bench and spent five minutes riding the exercise bicycle. The lone time where James paid attention to what was happening on the field in front of him?
The 58-yard punt return for a touchdown by true freshman Janarion Grant, which sent a jolt of energy into the crowd of 51,969 and put Rutgers within 10 points at 24-14.
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