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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It appeared that a star was in the midst of being born, even if he was something of a known commodity.
Ronnie Bell had 107 all-purpose yards on just two plays — a 76-yard catch and run which resulted in a touchdown and a 31-yard punt return. But on the latter, the senior captain and wide receiver remained down on the turf, clutching at his right leg.
After the game, Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t have much to update in terms of Bell’s prognosis, simply noting that he would be checked out on Saturday night.
“Just worried about Ronnie Bell right now,” Harbaugh said. “As we come out of this game, that’s the biggest concern. He’ll get an MRI tonight and we’ll find out the severity of the injury.”
For his teammates, of course, it wasn’t just hard to see a player of Bell’s caliber go down, but one of their leaders.
“It’s very difficult seeing a teammate, a brother hurt,” quarterback Cade McNamara said. “Ronnie’s a big part of this team and I’m praying for whatever it is for him to be OK in any sort of fashion, I hope. Obviously, it’s super difficult and you hate to see it.
While it might not have counted in the record books, before the 76-yard touchdown, Bell had made an impressive play, reeling in a one-handed catch on the sideline for a big gain and first down. The play was negated as he was called for a negligible offensive pass interference, but Harbaugh noted how wily Bell was playing before he went down with injury.
“The one-handed catch was amazing — I didn’t think there was any way he was still in-bounds,” Harbaugh said. “The big play he made on the adjustment, the post, really cracked the game open, got the big play when we needed it. We established we could run the ball at that point. They were starting to get lower and lower and lower with the secondary and then Ronnie got behind them, made the contested catch, kept his feet and took it in for the score. And then another big play on the punt return. Fabulous, phenomenal, phenomenal — all prayers are with Ronnie right now.”
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