Louisville WR Chris Bell ruled out against Kentucky
This Saturday, Louisville football will be without one of its best players against in-state rival Kentucky.
Senior wide receiver Chris Bell‘s regular season has come to an end, as he will be watching his Cardinals from the sideline this week after being ruled out by head coach Jeff Brohm.
There are no specifics on what type of injury Bell has suffered; however, he appeared banged up at the end of the 38-6 loss at SMU. Brohm made it clear in his weekly availability that Bell will not be suited up for the upcoming game against Kentucky
“Chris Bell will be out. We’ll try and get some other guys ready who are nicked up that we won’t know until the end of the week,” said Brohm.
Accounting for 2,166 receiving yards through four seasons, Bell is 13th all-time in program history. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Mississippi native has cemented himself as one of the best receivers to ever do it in a Cardinal uniform. Totalling 72 receptions for 917 yards and six touchdowns, Bell set career highs in all major statistics this season.
Bell has been one of the few bright spots during this rollercoaster of a year. Louisville is coming off its biggest defeat of the season at SMU — one where the Cards’ offense failed to score a touchdown. With starting quarterback Miller Moss out with a foot injury, freshman Deuce Adams made his first career start, and Bell finished with five receptions for 46 yards, both of which led the team.
With Moss’ status up in the air against Kentucky, the go-to target will also not be on the field to help a young quarterback in Adams. Brohm revealed there’s a chance we’ll see a multitude of quarterbacks once again.
Louisville has dealt with a high number of injuries this season, and saw this number increase during the last game. Preseason all-American running back Isaac Brown and his counterpart, Duke Watson, have been on and off the field. All-ACC linebacker Stanquan Clark missed a majority of the season due to leg surgery.
“We’ve had quite a few guys get injured. The key we know behind closed doors is that, whoever our best players are, you’ve got to try and keep them healthy all year… unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of key guys get injured, but they’ve all been during the game,” Brohm added.
Bell has played in 47 career games at Louisville. There is no telling if he will return for the bowl game or not. But, there’s a chance that the loss at SMU was the last time we see Bell in the red and black.
Louisville (7-4) and Kentucky (5-6) meet for the Governors Cup at noon EST on Saturday. The Cards have opened as three and a half point favorites.
