UCLA’s leading rusher, junior Kahlil Bell, tore his ACL in Saturday’s game at Washington State and will need surgery, the team announced Monday night.
Bell will likely miss the remainder of the season.
With 10 minutes and eight seconds to go in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, Bell went down. He was helped to the sideline by trainers as he tried to gingerly put weight on the knee. After spending some time on the sideline and being fitted with a sleeve over his knee, he was put back into the game.
With five minutes and 47 seconds left in the first quarter, Bell went down again. He was helped back to the sideline, where he sat in agony on the training table with a towel over his head until he was carted out of the stadium.
Somewhere in those intervening minutes on the sideline, Bell convinced the trainers and the coaches that he was ready and willing to play.
On Monday, coach Karl Dorrell had this to say on his rationale for putting Bell back in the game:
“He went through a battery of tests after his first injury and did some cut work on the sideline. Kahlil is a very competitive kid and a very determined kid, so when he came out, he felt it was just a ding at the time, so our training staff put him through a battery of tests. … He passed the test, and he came back in there. So it was unfortunate, he said he just planted funny on the second one and heard something pop.”
For a team that has shown extreme caution with most of its injuries, the move to put Bell back in the game could have been born of desperation. Fellow running back Chris Markey is suffering from a chronic toe injury and there is little depth behind either of them. Chane Moline is used in little more than goal-line scenarios and Christian Ramirez has not been put in a game since he fumbled against California last week.
BREAZELL INJURY: Wide receiver Brandon Breazell, who went down after sustaining a crushing hit from a Washington State safety, had additional X-rays performed after returning to Westwood. They came back negative.
“He will be listed as day-to-day, getting himself ready to play possibly this week,” Dorrell said.
Later, Dorrell said that Breazell was 50-50 to play this week.
OTHER INJURIES: Linebacker Christian Taylor, who suffered a concussion in the waning moments of the Cal game, has been cleared to practice this week. He will take part in no-contact practice Tuesday and then will return to full pads Wednesday and Thursday. … Defensive tackle Brigham Harwell will still be limited in practice but he did some light drill work last week. … Quarterback Ben Olson is starting to do some drop back work, but no competitive drills. … Quarterback Pat Cowan’s knee is better now than it was this time last week.