Ole Miss running back Zach Evans expected to play vs Kentucky

The Ole Miss offense will be at full strength with star running back Zach Evans expected to play against Kentucky. The transfer running back from TCU left the Rebels previous game against Tulsa with an injury and his status for this weekend’s SEC opener was in question.

Now, clarity, as Chuck Rounsaville from On3’s Ole Miss Spirit has confirmed that Evans will play. It’s a key piece back for a Rebels squad heading in to a Top 15 matchup with the Wildcats.

Through four games, Evans has 365 rushing yards at a 6.2 yards-per-carry clip to go with four touchdowns. He suffered a hip pointer against Tulsa and in his place freshman Quinshon Judkins rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns against the Hurricanes.

Now Ole Miss will have both available on Saturday afternoon in Oxford.

Additionally, Ole Miss will be getting wideout Jaylon Robinson back in the lineup after missing the transfer from UCF the last two games.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin had the jokes ready about Kentucky getting back its running back this weekend

Speaking on the “Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday afternoon ahead of a matchup with Kentucky, Kiffin couldn’t help himself with a quip about Wildcats running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. getting back from a suspension this week.

The running back had been suspended for the start of the season and also dealing with an eligibility issue. It was announced in September that Rodriguez would be back for Kentucky’s trip to Ole Miss and Kiffin joked about facing the newly-stocked Wildcats offense.

“They have their running back coming back, as you know. Who’s going to be fresh. Fresh, right in time for our game. Very timely suspension,” Kiffin said, eliciting a chuckle from Finebaum. “So we’ll get them at their best.”

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“He did miss the Florida game,” Finebaum said.

“Maybe they weren’t as worried about Florida or something,” Kiffin said.

“That’s what we wanted,” Finebaum said, chortling and knowing as well as anybody how Kiffin’s riff would play.