Rutgers RB Paul James tears ACL, out for season
By Mike Marteny
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights got a hard-earned 31-24 win over Navy on Saturday, but they suffered a big loss in junior running back Paul James. James left the game in the second quarter with a leg injury and did not return.
Now the news from New Jersey is that James suffered and ACL tear and will miss the rest of the year.
Rutgers coach Kyle Flood told reporters in NJ that standout running back Paul James has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the year
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 21, 2014
James had 96 yards on just seven carries before exiting the game. He already had 363 yards and five touchdowns on the season. He also had 120 yards receiving and two touchdowns on just four receptions.
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This kind of production is hard to replace. That said, backup Justin Goodwin ran for 104 yards on 26 carries in relief of James on Saturday. The man who will be the backup to Goodwin also got his share of carries on Satruday as Rutgers was content to just pound away at Navy. Desmon Peoples gained 82 yards on 19 carries.
Neither Goodwin nor Peoples have the game breaking ability that James has though. It could make the road ahead rough for Rutgers as they prepare for their first conference season as a member of the Big Ten.
They will need Goodwin and Peoples to provide a ground game that can help keep pressure off of quarterback Gary Nova. If they don’t have that, Rutgers could have trouble in their new conference.
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