Matt Harris (injured NU player) not concussed, broke facial bones

Submitted by justingoblue on

Brought up in the podcast linked in UV. I know this was out yesterday from an opponent three days ago, but from the TV angle this looked really scary, and obviously his body language on the cart wasn't good. He's still out indefinitely, but this is probably a better result than his head/neck position suggested when he hit the turf.

Pat Fitzgerald pegged Halloween as the time to ask for a status update.

http://www.insidenu.com/2015/10/12/9509639/northwestern-cornerback-matt…

LJ

October 13th, 2015 at 3:58 PM ^

So glad he's not badly injured.  That was one of the scariest injury time-outs I've seen in Michigan Stadium.  Never good when you see a player go instantly limp from the moment he is hit.

Bando Calrissian

October 13th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^

This was bad, but Zia Combs against Penn State in '02 was worse. He got absolutely laid out. The worst part was that they unscrewed his facemask to get to his face because they were afraid of taking off his helmet, and after they carted him off, someone had to come back to the field and find the screws. Just flat-out scary.

Spork

October 13th, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^

My wife's biggest takeaway from the game was "that guy is going to die in the locker room." She'll be glad to know that he's alive, albeit disfigured for a while.

JeepinBen

October 13th, 2015 at 3:59 PM ^

Glad he's doing OK, but I will call BS on having a blunt force trauma that can break your face through a helmet NOT leading to at least a minor concussion.

Maybe his concussion has healed in the last few days, but c'mon man (not you, Fitz). There's no such thing as "concussion like symptoms". There are scales of concussions.

RakeFight

October 13th, 2015 at 4:04 PM ^

This MGoDoc completely agrees.  No way his skull could take that much force without a concussion.  And given his history of head injuries,  I wish him a speedy recovery and a new hobby.

BlueGoM

October 13th, 2015 at 4:02 PM ^

Broken bones but no concussion?   I would have thought the opposite...  Anyway I guess that's the better (so to speak) of the two injuries to get.

 

Blue Bunny Friday

October 13th, 2015 at 11:28 PM ^

Short term:  It's most likely a zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture (most common after broken nose and then why wouldn't you just say broken nose).  So this will likely require surgery, mostly for cosmetic purposes, but possibly for things like seeing and chewing properly.  That should keep him out for a while.

Long term:  Save his brain and NW education.  These bones don't take a whole lot of force to fracture (think amateur punch) and he may not have a serious concussion. 

Disclaimer: I'm just some dude on the MGoBoard.

Farnn

October 13th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^

Glad to hear that he will be ok and it isn't a major neck or head injury.  It seems that Michigan has been leaving a trail of bodies in their wake this season and it's not from playing dirty.  They just seem to bring a physicalness that the opponents aren't prepared for.

skurnie

October 13th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^

Those were scary moments in the stadium...he wasn't moving at all. Glad to hear it's not too bad. Did any of you other guys see his family run onto the field? One guy was wearing a black NW #27 jersey and there was another guy, too (they were on the sideline)...guessing they were his friends or brothers

bluebyyou

October 13th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^

I was sitting in Section 1 behind the NU bench.  What was disconcerting at first was how quickly people started running for a back board and other medical items after they initially visited the injured player on the field.  

Glad to hear the player will be all right.  When he got up and onto the cart, a lot of us breathed more easily.

RakeFight

October 13th, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^

A security observation on this play... I sit in the Southeast corner.  As more and more medical personal went to Harris's aid, two guys, presumably family members, ran down the stairs, jumped the wall, and ran out to the field where Harris was being attended to... completely uncontested.

Two sheriff deputies standing by the goalpost noticed this, conferred, and wandered over to that corner of the field and stood.

Did anyone else see this?  That would seem to be poor security.  I'm not saying that his family shouldn't have been allowed on the field with as bad as it looked, but if any yahoo can run out onto the field during an injury timeout, that, to me, doesn't seem like a good thing.

I wonder why all the security guys that stand around the ends of the field during TV timeouts, team timeouts, and between quarters don't also take the same position for prolonged injury timeouts??

 

MGoCarolinaBlue

October 13th, 2015 at 4:13 PM ^

This wouldn't have happened if the Refs had removed him from the game for his illegal hit on Rudock.



[Very glad the injury isn't severe, just not glad that call was reversed when he went helmet-to-helmet on a QB who was already on the ground]

The2nd_JEH

October 13th, 2015 at 4:17 PM ^

That was pretty scary. Especially with how quick his family jumped out of the stands onto the field, it really looked like it was something serious. Really glad he's ok.




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joeyb

October 13th, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^

There are two things that I enjoy more than winning in sports: player safety and sportsmanship. And that's from all parties. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. That player being injured is not fun and the rest of his life is definitely more important than that game. I think that most fans have similar thoughts on the matter and I'm not surprised to see that happen. I would also expect that to be the response in any stadium across the country. If it weren't, I would have a new least favorite team.

JFW

October 13th, 2015 at 4:48 PM ^

My daughter and I said a prayer when we were listening. I was at the Dome for Mike Ultley. I saw Dennis Byrd go down. I saw Reggie Brown go down and stay motionless for what seemed like forever. I hate those types of injuries. I was thrilled when he got back up, and am thrilled he's (comparatively) okay. 

Sten Carlson

October 13th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^

I wasn't at the game, but I was proud that the response of the Big House crowd was more than polite clapping, and sounded on TV like a sincere ovation. Even as he was wheeled down the tunnel Michigan fans were leaning over and applauding him and seemingly wishing him well. I don't know if he noticed, but I was quite proud that Michigan showed so much class.

wahooverine

October 13th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^

He took a near full speed Derrick Green's knee straight to the dome.  It was a perfectly timed collision -  his head crossed into the knees path right as it was coming forward at full stride. No surprise it knocked him right out. That's a hefty knee with a lot of weight behind it moving at a high speed.  He looked like a dazed car accident victim. If this were 1904 and without helmets that honestly might've killed the guy. 

BrotherMouzone

October 13th, 2015 at 6:31 PM ^

Paul Sorantos (DT at UofM) did the same thing to me as I tackled him and it knocked me silly for a good 10 plays. I was also the center so when we went back on offense I went up to the trainer and took my helmet back. I went on and played the rest of the game, scary in hindsight.




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Hammer of Thor

October 13th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^

My uverse connection took a dump for a few minutes and I missed this.  Did this happen on a special teams play?  I was unware this happened.  Glad to hear he'll be ok though!

 

Edit:  Post #34 answered as I posted.