Judkins looking to repeat as Conerly Trophy winner, named one of 10 nominees for 2023

Ole Miss sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins is one of 10 nominees for the 2023 C Spire Conerly Trophy, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday.

The Conerly Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi. The winner will be announced November 28 at the Country Club of Jackson.

Judkins is the reigning Conerly winner, and he’s currently in the midst of another excellent season as the Rebels’ featured back. Judkins has 868 rushing yards (86.8 yards per game) and 14 touchdowns over his 191 carries. His 14 rushing scores lead the SEC and are the fourth-most in the country.

“Just playing in this conference in itself is a tough thing to do,” Judkins said. “Every week you only have so much time to prepare, and you don’t have time to sit and dwell on what you did the last game. It’s definitely tough, because there are so many great teams in this conference. 

“You just have to prepare the right way.”

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Safe to say Judkins’ preparation is again paying off.

His 15 total touchdowns are second in the SEC and fourth nationally. Judkins leads the SEC in both missed tackles forced (51) and yards after contact (653), according to Pro Football Focus. His yards after contact account for 75 percent of his entire season rushing total.

Judkins has four 100-yard rushing games this season, as well as four with multiple rushing touchdowns. Ten of of his rushing touchdowns have come against league foes, who Judkins also has a 103.3 yards-per-game average against.

Judkins is the active FBS rushing leader in attempts per game (20.2), rushing yards per game (105.9), all-purpose plays per game (21.6) and all-purpose yards per game (117.4). He’s the only active FBS rusher with at least 1,500 career yards (2,435) and a per-game career rushing average in the triple digits (105.9).

“I definitely view myself as the best running back,” Judkins said in the preseason. “What separates me overall is my game. My speed, change of direction and how I can be used all over the field. I’ll run around you, but I can also run through you as well. 

“I can do everything at my position.”

Judkins set six new single-season records as a freshman last season. He’s again record-hunting as a sophomore. 

Judkins is in pursuit of several season and all-time career records, including being two shy of his own record for single-season rushing touchdowns (16) set a year ago. He’s the only rusher in Ole Miss history with multiple seasons of at least 14 rushing touchdowns. 

Judkins is second all-time at Ole Miss in rushing touchdowns (30). He’s also second in 100-yard rushing games (12) and multi-rushing touchdown games (10), as well as third in all-purpose touchdowns (32), fifth in rushing yards (2,435) and seventh in rushing attempts (465).

Judkins is coming off the second-best rushing season ever by an SEC freshman. He had a school-record 1,567 yards, which trails only Georgia’s Herschel Walker, who ran for 1,616 in 1980. Judkins was the 2022 CBS National Freshman of the Year and a consensus first team All-SEC member. He was named prior to the year to watch lists for the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards. Judkins was a consensus preseason All-American.

The Conerly Trophy is named after College Football Hall of Famer and Ole Miss legend Charlie Conerly and was first conferred in 1996. The Conerly Trophy has been awarded to an Ole Miss player 11 times, more than any other program: Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (1999), Eli Manning (2001, 2003), Patrick Willis (2006), Bo Wallace (2012), Evan Engram (2016), A.J. Brown (2017), Elijah Moore (2020), Matt Corral (2021) and Judkins (2022).

2023 C SPIRE CONERLY TROPHY FINALISTS

Alcorn State – QB Aaron Allen
Belhaven – RB Kolbe Blunt
Delta State – QB Patrick Shegog
Jackson State – RB Irv Mulligan
Millsaps – P Ethan Klapatch
Miss. College – RB Marcus Williams
Mississippi State – LB Bookie Watson
Mississippi Valley State – C Rondey Luckett
Ole Miss – RB Quinshon Judkins
Southern Miss – RB Frank Gore Jr.