San Diego State starting running back Chance Bell’s status for Saturday’s game at Utah is questionable because of an injury suffered last week against Idaho State.

Bell was limited to a warmup drill and did not participate with the other running backs during the portion of practice Monday and Tuesday that was open to media.

Bell was wearing an elbow brace that extended from bicep to forearm on his left arm that was hinged and padded in the elbow.

SDSU head coach Brady Hoke was asked Tuesday during his midday press conference for an update on Bell’s status for this week’s game.

“He was out there yesterday,” Hoke said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Asked what exactly Bell injured, Hoke said, “I can’t talk about those kind of things.”

Bell left the game late in the second quarter against the Bengals after catching a screen pass from quarterback Braxton Burmeister. He was tackled by Idaho State safety Quantraill Morris-Walker after a 10-yard gain and appeared to hyperextend his left elbow while bracing his fall.

Bell immediately grabbed his left arm while still on the ground and was holding it as he jogged off the field.

He immediately followed trainers into the pop-up treatment tent on the sideline and did not return to the game.

Bell rushed four times for 17 yards against Idaho State, giving him 12 carries for 47 yards in the season’s two games. He also had his only two receptions of the season (for eight yards) against the Bengals.

SDSU didn’t miss a beat in Bell’s absence, finishing the game with 380 yards rushing.

That included 80 yards (on eight carries) by Burmeister, who scored on a 47-yard run, and a 26-yard carry for a first down on a fake punt by Jack Browning.

Sophomore Jaylon Armstead had a game-high 96 yards rushing, most of it coming on a 61-yard carry. Senior Jordan Byrd collected 53 of his 58 yards on a touchdown run to open the second quarter.

In the game, SDSU spread 34 carries among six running backs who totaled 274 yards (8.0 ypc).

A week earlier, SDSU’s backs gained 125 yards on 27 carries (4.6 ypc) against Arizona.

“We have pretty good backs,” Hoke said. “They’re all very prideful.”

Hoke credited running backs coach Jeff Horton for his work with the group, which may represent the deepest position on the team.

“It’s something we’ve got to count on,” Hoke said. “We’ve got to ride those guys as much as we can.”

If Bell can’t play against Utah, then who gets his carries?

“At some point the hot hand will get the carries during the game,” Hoke said.

Browning had himself quite a day against Idaho State, with five punts inside the 10-yard line (at the 7, 4, 3, and 1 twice) as well as a punt to the 13-yard line, a 20-yard field goal and the 26-yard run off the fake punt.

It wasn’t enough to earn Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week, however.

The conference instead chose Wyoming place-kicker John Hoyland for the weekly award after Hoyland made field goals of 23, 41, 39 and 35 yards in the Cowboys’ 33-10 win over Northern Colorado.

SDSU’s two-deep for the Utah game included a change at safety, where junior walk-on Davaughn Celestine was listed as the starter for the first time.

Celestine had a breakout game against Idaho State in his first start playing the “Field Warrior” safety with a game-high nine tackles (eight solo).

Former starter Cedarius Barfield is listed as the backup at the position.

Junior safety Kyron White has returned to practice after being suspended a month for a helmet-swinging incident during a preseason practice.

White practiced with his left hand heavily taped — Hoke has termed such wrappings a “lollipop” — to protect a broken bone that has been healing since the second week of practice.

White is listed on the depth chart behind starter Patrick McMorris at the “Aztec” safety position.

Hoke said he would like to see more balance in the offense. The Aztecs rank fourth in the nation in rushing offense (275 ypg) and 129th in the nation in passing offense (85 ypg).

Only Air Force (58.5 ypg) and UMass (32.5 ypg) have averaged fewer passing yards among the NCAA’s 131 FBS schools.

Utah ranks 17th in rushing (238.5 ypc) and 35th in passing (284 ypg).

The Aztecs are pumping crowd noise into practice this week — Tuesday it sounded louder than a lawnmower (90 decibels), perhaps approaching a jet engine (120) but certainly less than a jackhammer (130) — to prepare for the anticipated 50,000-plus fans who will be loudly supporting the Utes.

Utah is expecting its 72nd straight home sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

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