Fort Collins – Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick, who spends most of practice stationed behind the secondary, remarked in the preseason that if he were a defensive back, he wouldn’t want to get in the path of running back Kyle Bell.
Never mind a 5-foot-10 cornerback. There’s a 7-foot basketball center on campus who knows better than to mess with the Mountain West Conference’s top rusher.
“He was the person to go in and rough me up. He’s the human foul,” said Rams center Jason Smith, who is coming off MWC freshman of the year honors. Smith and Bell were fierce Class 3A Patriot League rivals when Smith stood over everyone at Platte Valley and four-sport star Bell set the state career rushing mark (8,248 yards) at Weld Central.
How was Bell on the basketball court?
“He played basketball like he was still on the football field,” Smith said. “He left some pretty good bruises on me.”
Bell, 6-2, 228 pounds, is 10 inches shorter than Smith but still outweighed him in high school.
“I wasn’t the tallest guy, but I was always the one put on him,” Bell said. “My main thing was to keep him from scoring. One game we held him under 20. The whole thing was being physical and kind of beating him up. In high school no one could stop him.”
Smith never dunked over Bell. “I was afraid he’d use his football skills on me,” Smith said.
The former rivals are now on the same team, as Smith calls it, and cemented their friendship in the weight room over the summer. Bell predicts an NBA future for Smith. The basketball player said of Bell, “He’s kicking butt.”
With back-to-back games of 183 and 197 yards, Bell leads the MWC and ranks 11th nationally at 116 yards a game after being a backup the first two weeks.
“He’s grown up these two weeks,” CSU offensive tackle Mike Brisiel said. “He has more patience and a feel for the defense.”
When Utah coach Kyle Whittingham took his first look at CSU film in preparation for Saturday’s game, he thought he was watching former Ram Kevin McDougal (1996-99).
“He’s a north-and-south runner who is as tough as nails,” Whittingham told Salt Lake reporters. “He is the typical prototype Sonny Lubick tailback.”
Bell knows he likely won’t rush for 180-plus yards every week, and Saturday’s game against Utah is a special challenge with center Albert Bimper out with a hamstring pull and guard Josh Day doubtful with the same injury. Utah has the best overall defense CSU has faced since Minnesota on Sept. 10.
Although all but anointed the starter by the media when he was dominating spring ball, the CSU coaches didn’t reach that conclusion until the bye week. Some players would have sulked coming off the bench in losses at Colorado and Minnesota.
“You can’t worry about where you’re at,” Bell said. “You have to worry about preparing yourself if you get the opportunity. They are the coaches, they get paid for running this team and deciding what’s in the best interest of this team.”
Footnote
CSU has fewer than 1,000 tickets remaining for Saturday’s game.
