Published Sep 8, 2021
Michigan Wolverines Football: 'We've Got To Do It For Ronnie'
Chris Balas  •  Maize&BlueReview
Senior Editor

Michigan hammered Western Michigan in its opener, 47-14, but suffered a big loss, too, when junior receiver Ronnie Bell went down with a season-ending knee injury. It's up to others to step up in his absence, and second-year frosh Roman Wilson expects his team — and his group — to respond accordingly.

It was a somber and sobering moment when Bell was helped off the field in the second quarter following a 31-yard punt return. It was worse, Wilson said, when they got the news that their teammate, captain and leader would be out for the season.

"Ronnie going down, it sucks," Wilson said bluntly. "I really can't even describe how he feels, what's going through his head. He's put in so much work leading up all the way to this point ... put himself in such a great spot for this year and for his future. It just sucks."

He was succinct in what they talked about after hearing the devastating prognosis.

"The message is, 'we've got to do it for Ronnie,'" he said.

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He did his part, notching a 43-yard run on an end around and showing his speed in doing it. They'll need more from him in the pass game, however, and he's going to get his shot. He's one of the faster players on the team, and now he's going to get the opportunity to prove what he can do.

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The receiving group as a whole didn't get a lot of opportunities against the Broncos, but that's going to change against teams more stout against the run.

"We played good, but we can always be better," Wilson said. "I feel on first impression, a lot of things we'd done in practice carried over the game. In order to keep playing at this level, we've got to keep having good practices.

"More reps in the game going to make me feel more comfortable in a game. It definitely helped me a lot being able to start off last year, my first game, on the positive side ... start off with a win. My first target was a catch. It definitely gave me some confidence for the rest of the season and this year."

Like most, he was 'shocked' that Washington lost its opener to FCS Montana. He also knows the Huskies will be out to prove it was a fluke, and that their defense was very good in a 13-7 loss.

"You expect the better team to win their opener, but the Washington defense is a great team," he said. "They definitely have a lot of experience, great guys, all talented. I've just got to bring that same energy from last game to this game, do everything I can to just be a better person than I was last week."

NOTES

• Receiver Mike Sainristil's blocking was one of the more impressive parts of the offensive performance against WMU. He set the example for the rest of the crew with his blocking on the perimeter, Wilson noted.

"I'm not surprised. Mike always does that," he said. "It's kind of what he does.

"It's just doing it. It's all a mental game. You can't just become a better blocker just practicing it over and over. You've got to know in your head, 'I've got to be the bigger man than this guy,' and own it."

• Wilson will be battling against transfer Giles Jackson, his former teammate at Michigan, Saturday.

"I can say we were pretty close. We were definitely friends, but I might not even see him at the game besides from the sideline," he said. "I've never played a rep against him."

They've talked since Jackson left, he said, but not about the upcoming matchup.


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