A new knee, a new season.
That’s the way running back Kahlil Bell is characterizing the 2008 UCLA football season. For the senior, this season is all about redemption: about putting a season cut short by an ACL injury behind him and embracing his final year in college football.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” Bell said. “It’s my last year potentially playing football, so any chance I get to be on the field and play, I’m going to play as hard as I can. I got to try and be a leader out here, and this is it for me. Hopefully we can end on a high note.”
Last season was a difficult one for Bell. Prior to tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Oct. 27 against Washington State, Bell had been having a very productive season, amassing 795 yards and a team-high five touchdowns in eight games.
Yet midway through the first quarter, Bell went down with an injury and had to be helped off the field by teammates. After going through some tests and putting a sleeve over his knee, Bell was put back in the game. But his return would be short-lived, as Bell went down again. This
time, a torn ACL would put him out of the game and end what looked to be a promising season.
“During the game, I was disappointed as anybody would be,” Bell said. “But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Last year happened and last year is over, so it’s a new year, it’s a new day. New knee, new everything, so we’re going to try and put last year behind us, and we’re going to move forward and try to establish UCLA as a program to be reckoned with.”
After months of extensive and intense rehab, Bell is back on the practice field, running and cutting like he used to. Heading into the season opener against Tennessee on Sept. 1, Bell is listed at the top of the Bruin depth chart at the running back position, something that seemed a remote possibility last season.
Even Bell is surprised at how quickly he has been able to recover from an injury that typically takes up to 12 months to fully recover from.
“I feel good, I feel 100 percent,” Bell said. “Really kind of shocked that it happened as quickly as it did, but you know what, I’m truly blessed and fortunate.”
Coach Rick Neuheisel likes what he has seen of Bell so far in fall camp and is excited at what Bell is capable of accomplishing on the field this season.
“I think Kahlil’s terrific,” Neuheisel said. “I just hope that he can continue to get better physically and he can have the kind of senior year I think he deserves and has worked for.”
As if having one running back coming back from an ACL injury isn’t enough, the Bruins have two.
Redshirt freshman Raymond Carter tore his right ACL in training camp last season, forcing the Crenshaw native to miss the entire 2007 season.
For Carter, who is battling for the second spot on the depth chart with junior Chane Moline, the biggest thing is just being on the field.
“I’m just happy to be out here,” Carter said. “Last year around this time I was injured, so I’m just happy I can make it through another day.
“(The injury) was pretty tough because I had my mind set on playing. But a lot of things happen. Everything happens for a reason, so that’s why I have to bounce back and come back ready so I can be ready to go this year,” he added.
Adding to what already is a crowded backfield is the influx of four talented freshmen. Aundre Dean, Jonathan Franklin, Milton Knox and Derrick Coleman are all in fall camp, fighting for playing time and a spot on the depth chart.
“Every day is an interview,” Franklin said. “We’re working on getting better, getting ready for the season.
“The whole team, everybody individually brings some energy to the team, and I’m just another portion of that energy. (I’m) another portion of pushing everybody else to work hard (and) get better. So we’re all pushing each other,” he added. “It’s no individual ““ somebody doing something different ““ so we all in this together.”
Franklin had a successful career at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, where he rushed for 1,732 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior.
Dean is another talented running back who has been viewed as one of the cornerstones of the Bruins’ highly rated recruiting class.
Yet, so far in camp, Dean has not been given as many reps as many expected. Neuheisel said that the reason may be due in part to one of Dean’s earlier reps, which resulted in a dropped snap.
For Dean, the biggest thing is being ready for when his number is called.
“We’re all great running backs,” Dean said. “You just got to bide your time. … When you get your chance, you just got to run at it. I’m just ready to play. The only thing I can do is keep working, and whenever they call my number, be ready to do whatever I can do.”
Though Neuheisel said it would be unfair to say if one running back was ahead of another, he did say that he was excited about the depth the team has at the position. “I think that we got some great-looking kids over there that are all eager to have a ball in their arms, but they also have to learn the offense and do all the other things that go with that position in terms of protection and understanding how to read blocks,” Neuheisel said.
With the season opener against Tennessee just days away, everyone is itching to get the season underway under the lights on national television.
“I’m just hoping that I can help out,” Dean said. “Like I said, if they call my number, I just want to be ready. I know it’s going to be a great game.
“It really don’t get too much better than that. Monday night football ““ it’s going to be crazy. The only game on television, so it’s going to be nice.”