“I think what we have to make sure we’re not doing is don’t drink the Kool-Aid around here,” he said. “He’s always tried to be a complete football player, so I don’t think that’s going to change whether he’s blocking or catching the ball or running with the football. I think he would play on special teams if we asked him to, and I think that’s the trademark of a good player.

“So his attitude is in the right place right now.”

While Bell’s statistics are staggering, they also came at a heavy price. The 6-foot-2, 244-pound running back touched the ball 50 times on the night, including a personal-high 44 carries.

“I had no idea (I would get that many touches,” Bell said. “(Offensive coordinator Dan) Roushar just told me be ready to carry the ball. I was expecting about 20 to 25 touches but they needed me in the third and fourth quarter more times than not, and I just made sure I was ready for it.”

With a very inexperienced passing game in junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell and his receiving corps which consists of one junior, four sophomores and one redshirt freshman, Roushar has turned to Bell to shoulder most of the load on offense. However, the unit’s heavy reliance on Bell calls into question how much his body can take over the course of a 12-to-14 game season.

Bell said the load was intense, but one he could handle for the good of the team.

“I was sore (the next day),” he said. “When I got out of bed I felt real sluggish, I didn’t want to move. But once I got into the weight room and started lifting and running, I got my body back and my legs back under me.”

However unlikely it might be, if Bell were to continue being fed the ball 44 times a game, he would record 528 carries during the regular season, shattering the previous program high number of 419 set by Lorenzo White in 1985.

Still, Dantonio said he doesn’t see reducing the junior’s carries any time soon.

“(We’ll run him) until he gets a flat (tire), I guess,” he said. “He was hot. I’ve said many times here we’re going to ride the hot back.”

And as far as senior running back Larry Caper sees it, there’s no reason not to continue giving Bell the opportunity to take it down the field.

“Everyone has their limit,” Caper said. “But if (Bell) continues to get 50 touches a game and continues to show durability, keep giving him his touches and he’ll keep producing.”