Quinshon Judkins paces Ole Miss offense, secures regular season SEC rushing title
Hyperbole comes into play when saying a freshman had a career season but that is exactly what Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins did this year.
The running back lit up the college football world and the Southeastern Conference by busting onto the season as one of the top players in the country.
Judkins added another accolade to his proverbial trophy case after locking up the regular season SEC rushing title with 1,474 rushing yards and also a conference-best 16 touchdowns. The touchdown mark set a new Ole Miss single-season record for rushing touchdowns.
Arkansas’s Raheim ‘Rocket’ Sanders finished a very close second with 1,426 rushing yards.
This is the first time an Ole Miss player has won the SEC rushing title since Steve Hindman in 1967.
Tuesday could bring more good news for Judkins, who finished seventh nationally in rushing yards, is representing Ole Miss as a finalist for the 2022 CSpire Conerly Trophy. The award will be handed out in Jackson Tuesday night.
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The production by Judkins aided in Ole Miss once again having the top rushing attack in the SEC.
Since the arrival of Lane Kiffin to Ole Miss it has been one of the top two rushing teams in the conference. The Rebels were also the top rushing team in the SEC in 2020, a shortened 10-game regular season all against conference opponents.
Ole Miss had two of the top 10 rushers in the SEC this season with transfer Zach Evans finishing the regular season as the seventh best in the conference.
Evans, who transferred in from TCU via the portal, had 899 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season. He played in 11 games after missing one game due to an injury.
With the duo of Judkins and Evans, Ole Miss paced the SEC with 261.42 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Jaxson Dart also finished with 548 rushing yards to help with that average.
The ground game was not the only successful aspect of the offense with the passing game doing its part.
Dart finished as the eighth best passer in the SEC with 2,613 yards and 18 touchdowns.
The majority of those passing yards were via Jonathan Mingo and Malik Heath. The duo finished in the Top 5 of the SEC as Heath was the fourth best receiver with 834 receiving yards and Mingo fifth with 808 yards.
Overall Ole Miss finished as the second best offense in the SEC with 491 total yards of offense per game in the regular season.
The Rebels can improve on these numbers when it plays in its third straight bowl game, which will be announced on Sunday.
