Lane Kiffin addresses Quinshon Judkins injury, decision for him to play

Despite an injury hampering him at practice all week, Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins fought through it to play vs. Georgia Tech.

Judkins was listed as “doubtful” to play in the Georgia Tech game just hours before it kicked off — and 99 times out of a 100, players with a “doubtful” designation before the game do not wind up playing. On Saturday, Judkins became that extremely rare exception and felt good enough to actually play by the time he got out there to warm-up.

As for his performance, Judkins did take on the RB1 role and led all backs with 13 carries for a grand total of just 37 yards, clearly at less than his very best. Meanwhile, quarterback Jaxson Dart was the engine of the offense, throwing for 250 yards while taking the primary ball-carrier duties away from Judkins. Dart had 14 rushing attempts that went for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns. What a two-way weapon for the Rebels.

After the game and Judkins’ unexpected participation, head coach Lane Kiffin detailed how the sophomore RB got back on the field.

“Yeah, I commend him a lot for when, you know, we never address what injury it is. But to be extremely injured and not be able to practice very much, you know, and come out and play,” said Kiffin, noting that he was skeptical Judkins would play vs. the Yellow Jackets at all.

“And I didn’t really think a lot of times this week he was going to play at all, and then he came out and got some juice in warm-ups and said he was ready to go. So we played him, not quite as much as we normally would with a week off of practice, but you know, he battled in there.”

Quinshon Judkins certainly did battle, and while he was far from his best, the star RB was still available and playing in case Ole Miss needed to lean on him, which they did not.

While Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has long been renown for his passing offenses, it’s been the ground game that powers the Rebels over the last year. Judkins is in large part to thank for that. He rushed for 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns as a true freshman last season and is a featured piece of the offense again in year two, running behind an extremely veteran O-line.