Can the Ole Miss run game be better than last year?
Saying confidence is high in the Ole Miss running back room might be an understatement. This season’s group is putting a lofty goal on its shoulder and not shying away from it.
When asking what the ceiling is for the Ole Miss run game this season the answer has been the same: The new crop of running backs will be better than the three-headed monster of last season.
Talking the talk of Zach Evans, Ulysses Bentley IV, Kentrel Bullock and Quinshon Judkins being better than the trio of Jerrion Ealy, Snoop Conner and Henry Parrish, Jr. is one thing. Walking that Walk is another thing altogether.
Though, it is something that could be a possibility in the eyes of those who are tasked with doing so.
“I think it can be the best in the country,” Evans said. “I think it can be great. That’s what we’re working for.”
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Setting the goal to be the best rushing attack in all of college football is lofty but not impossible.
Ole Miss ranked 12th in the country last season, and third in the SEC, in rushing with 2,829 yards. The Rebels averaged 217.6 rushing yards per game.
Of course the trio of Ealy, Conner and Parrish accounted for 69.5 percent of those yards (1,968). It is also hard to ignore the 614 yards Matt Corral chipped in as well.
The task is hard but Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin went into the portal and pulled out Evans and Bentley for a reason.
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“With all three of us running the ball I think it’s going to be amazing,” Bentley said.
That third person would be true freshman Quinshon Judkins who has quickly worked his way into getting a heavy dose of reps.
Judkins early enrolled in January and was able to get a head start by participating in spring practices. Since his arrival in Oxford all Judkins has done is continue to impress and turn heads.
Evans and Bentley may be the top two backs in the group but both are liking what they’re seeing and offering up high praise for the freshman.
“(Judkins is) literally the most improved in the room,” Evans said. “For him to be 18, that’s crazy. That boy’s explosive. He’s got a stiff arm. He’s got a bright future.”
Then there are returners Kentrel Bullock and Isaiah Woullard, though it seems clear Bullock is getting more of a look in the running back rotation than Woullard through the first week of camp.
Co-offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is also as high on his batch of running backs as the players are themselves.
“I love all four of those guys. I think it’s a really talented group,” Weis said. “Each guy’s got a little bit different flavor to them. But, the best thing is they all can kind of operate every single run that we’re trying to run in our offense. Which makes it easy for when we call plays and who we want to get the ball to.”
