The Ole Miss WRs left plenty of meat on the bone against Troy. Jonathan Mingo isn’t worried.
Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo motioned into the backfield from the far side of the field.
The Rebels were threatening to go up two touchdowns against Troy and set up with first-and-goal at the 2. They’d gotten there through, in no small part, the near-solo heroics of true-freshman running back Quinshon Judkins, one of nearly 30 Rebels who made their Ole Miss debut in the game.
Judkins had carried four straight times for 24 tough yards, and he probably could have very well finished off what was ultimately a 10-play scoring drive on his own, no matter how stacked the box was.
However, head coach Lane Kiffin decided to play the pre-snap matchup, so Mingo took off to his right on the snap. Quarterback Jaxson Dart turned, quickly looked his way and fired for a completion officially tabulated as a carry.
Completion, carry, whatever. The oft-injured Mingo will take his touchdowns any way he can get them. He impressively beat a host of Trojans to the front pylon for the first rushing touchdown of his career, and on his first-ever college carry, no less.
“The rushing touchdown wasn’t part of the plan,” Mingo went on to say a few days later. “But a touchdown’s a touchdown.”
Mingo has been starting games since his true-freshman season in 2019.
But most of last season, when he was a junior, and had dreams of a next-level breakout, was lost to injury. He started six games before he was shut down for the last seven with a broken foot.
He’s never felt better than he does now — leading a wide receivers room that, outside of Mingo’s final stat line (three catches and 26 yards, one carry, two yards and a touchdown) collectively feels as if it left plenty of meat on the bone Saturday.
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“I feel we all knew we could have done a lot better,” Mingo said. “But it was a lot of our’s first game together. A lot of them come from different schools. We’re just trying to bond and get our chemistry down even more.”
Mingo’s rush put Ole Miss up 14-0.
The final outcome was never really in doubt after that, but the Rebel offense was downright anemic in the second half. At one point, Ole Miss and Troy had six turnovers in eight straight combined offensive possessions.
Ole Miss scored just one second-half touchdown and gained a measly 165 yards.
“We capitalized on every ball that came our way, it’s just a new offense trying to get the groove together,” Mingo said. “It’s a week-by-week thing. We’re going to pick it up later in the season.
“I feel good just being healthy. Last time I was on that field, I wasn’t healthy. It’s just a blessing to be out there healthy on the field and playing the game I love again.”
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