‘How you gonna stop it?’: Damien Taylor believes in Ole Miss backfield — and brotherhood

Ole Miss football wraps its first full week of fall camp practices on Friday. 

The Rebels are dismissing Saturday so the coaches and players can attend a celebration of the life of Corey Adams, an Ole Miss defensive lineman tragically shot and killed in Memphis two weeks ago.

Intrigue surrounds a number of positions, not the least of which running back. Missouri transfer Kewan Lacy took the first-team reps to start the week. 

However, the room is far from settled. Ole Miss has options, including Troy transfer Damien Taylor.

“When I took my visit, it felt like home,” Taylor said in a sit-down with Rebel Grove. “From the moment I touched down in Oxford everything just felt right. Everything just felt like home. There’s some things you don’t have to worry for. It’s something you really can’t explain. But when you know, you know. That’s pretty much how it was.

“After my third day here I still knew this was the place I wanted to be. I told my parents after I’d been here for two days, like, if I had to repeat the process all over again, I would choose Ole Miss again.”

Ole Miss landed Taylor through the second portal window after spring practices. 

He’s still learning his playbook, but Ole Miss has high expectations for him once he gets his feet under him. Taylor has the fourth-highest returning grade of all SEC running backs, according to Pro Football Focus, and was a 1,000-yard rusher last season. 

“We’re so deep and have so many spectacular guys,” Taylor said. “You can’t load the box. You can’t play too deep, because we’re just going to run straight through. We compliment each other. Everyone here has come together so well to this point. How you gonna stop it?”

Lacy is a former 4-star recruit and transfer from Missouri. 

Additional options include Logan Diggs, who transferred to Ole Miss from LSU last off-season. He missed all but the Gator Bowl last season due to injury. The Rebels won at least 10 games for the third time in four years.

Diggs is fully healthy now.

Former Georgia State running back Domonique Thomas in his second Ole Miss season. He appeared in all 13 games a year ago and rushed 42 times for 197 yards and a touchdown. 

The Rebels also signed 4-star 2025 recruit Shekai Mills-Knight. Mills-Knight was ranked as the nation’s No. 145 overall player, as well as the No. 9 running back. He won the Division II Class AAA Championship with Baylor (Tennessee) School as a high-school senior and was a three-time league MVP. 

Mills-Knight rushed for 1,113 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023. 

“It’s great people in that room,” Taylor said. “Me coming in as a transfer you would think there’s animosity, especially with me being a senior. But, to be honest, the guys have been showing me so much love and helping me out. They’ve really made my time here so much easier. They’ve been helping me with every single thing. 

“There’s a lot to grasp. I feel like I’m moving at the great pace I am because of them, even off the field. We can’t really dictate exactly whose stats are going to be what in the season. What we can do is push each other forward each day. It’s a friendly competition, a great competition going on.” 

Taylor rushed for 1,010 yards on 173 carries in 2024-25.

He scored seven touchdowns. Taylor averaged 84.2 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry.

“Each year I was learning things,” Taylor said of his experience as a Trojan. “Last year I finally put everything together and it made me the player and the man I am now to be where I’m at.”

Taylor has been impressed so far by first-year Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons.

“A lot’s been put on his shoulders, but I feel like he’s handled it very well,” Taylor said. “He’s handled it as if, like, ‘I know I can do it.’ He walks around with his head up, chest high. He’s not backing away from anything. If we played tomorrow, I know he’s ready.”