Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh explained Ronnie Bell’s importance Monday and praised his team for Saturday’s dominance.
A feeling of dark inevitability lingered over Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh’s weekly press conference on Monday. And sure enough, in response to the very first question he faced, Harbaugh dropped the news everyone was expecting about No.1 wide receiver Ronnie Bell. “Unfortunately, Ronnie will be out for the season,” Harbaugh said. “He has a knee injury.” A senior team captain on offense, Bell had writhed in pain on the Michigan Stadium turf Saturday following a 31-yard punt return in the second quarter. He remained down on the field for several minutes as the medical staff attended to his right leg before carrying him to the sideline. Bell was eventually carted to the locker room while holding a towel over his face in despair. [ Big Ten winners, losers: MSU, Michigan impress; Ohio State doubters take ‘L’ ] “Ronnie won our player of the game,” Harbaugh said Monday. “He had a phenomenal game, really, along with Blake (Corum) making the big plays, carrying our offense early in the game. Got the big play on the long pass. Great contested catch and then finished with a run. “And then one of the best catches I’ve ever seen in my life, the one-handed catch and he was able to stay in bounds. Very clean. Tremendous catch. The punt return on which he got injured, unfortunately. But he was just having a great game.” The plan, according to Harbaugh, is for Bell to remain involved with the team throughout the remainder of the season.
