Ole Miss RB Quinshon Judkins not trying to prove anything to his home state school
Quinshon Judkins‘ hometown of Pike Road, Alabama is just down the road from Auburn, Ala.
As we say in the South, “just a piece from here.”
Ole Miss running back Judkins, who burst on the college football scene like a tsunami in 2022, went to Pike Road High School, but he was lightly recruited by Auburn.
Applying logic to the scenario that Ole Miss travels to Judkins’ back yard to play the Tigers this Saturday, one would think he would have a little bit of a grudge or something extra to prove to Auburn.
He says that isn’t so.
“I’m just going to prepare like I always do. I will study hard, practice hard and get ready to play hard,” said Judkins, who has had a target on his back this season after gaining almost 1,600 yards last year. “I try to keep my mentality the same no matter who we are playing.”
Judkins is not having the kind of season – yet – that was anticipated, but opposing defensive coordinators have been overpopulating the box to deny the Rebels the run and force them to pass.
Judkins, at the halfway mark of the season, has 108 carries for 443 yards with 6 touchdowns and a 4.1 yard per carry average.
Those are not bad numbers, but they aren’t to the standard Judkins set last year. He does not seem worried about it because he sees things coming together more the last two weeks.
“I think we have gone back to more of the things we did last year – simple things – the last two games and that has helped us be successful like last season,” Judkins stated. “We have to continue on that road and do things even better, but I think we are going in a good direction now.”
Related: LIVE! From the Manning Center: Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Quinshon Judkins and Deantre Prince
Judkins also thinks he has improved a great deal in one important area of being a running back.
“I have improved tremendously without the ball. As a freshman last year, there were so many things I did not know or know how to do, but I have progressed in those areas this season a lot,” he mentioned. “I have gotten better as a receiver. I’m hoping they use me more in that way in the future.”
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In the open week, Judkins said the Rebels installed a little bit of the Auburn game plan, but a lot of the week was how to improve.
“We went over a lot of things that should make us better. We prepared hard last week, but then we had some time off to get our legs back,” said Judkins. “It was a productive week from a lot of angles.”
The Rebels are 5-1 this year and were 7-1 last year when the bottom fell out. Judkins sees a different mentality this year.
“We all know what the goal is. None of us have let up. We are focused and ready to finish what we started this year,” Judkins added. “We have more playmakers than we did last year and that has kept us fresh late in games and allowed us to spread the ball around better.
“Our coaches have given us great game plans and we have done a better job executing them.”
Judkins is cool, calm and collected right now, but we have to wonder when he hits the field at Auburn is there won’t be a little extra fire in the belly?
Don’t be surprised if there is and don’t be surprised if Judkins has a big day.
