Rebels race past Troy, 28-10, in season opener
OXFORD, Miss. – Perhaps Ole Miss should get in touch with the powers that be at UNLV to see if their nickname is for rent. In the 2022 season opener, Ole Miss seemed to be the Running Rebels.
Ole Miss ran for 266 yards in the 28-10 win over Troy, 130 coming from TCU transfer Zach Evans in his first game in a Rebels’ uniform.
“Like I said, we’re a loaded backfield. Obviously, if the load comes my way, I will take it, no doubt about that,” Evans said.
“I love to share with the boys back there. We’re coming in with hard work. We’re coming out in 98-degree heat sometimes. Sometimes all of us are having full-body cramps out there. We’re putting blood, sweat, and tears into this game. I love for them to go crazy.”
Ole Miss RB Zach Evans
After sluggish starts for both offenses, Ole Miss finally got on the scoreboard late in the first quarter. The Rebels drove 82 yards in nine plays to go on top with the emphasis on the running game. To cap the drive, Ulyssess Bentley IV took a handoff up the middle and appeared to be stopped by the Trojans’ defense, but the SMU transfer was never down and spun to his left and sprinted into the end zone to give Ole Miss the lead.
Touchdown, Ole Miss! It comes courtesy of @BentleyDoo! Rebels lead Troy, 7-0. ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/r2LfoCy5Qi
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) September 3, 2022
Jonathan Cruz added the conversion and Ole Miss held a 7-0 edge with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
That lead held until the end of the first period.
Ole Miss added to the lead early in the second quarter aided by a mistake by Troy’s Jon Sumrall in his first game as a college head coach. With the Rebels in Troy territory, Quinshon Judkins ran to the Trojans four, and was spun around and thrown out of bounds. Initially, a flag came out for a facemask, but after the officials discussed it, they decided there was no foul.
But Sumrall sprinted down the sideline to protest and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
A play later, quarterback Jaxson Dart tossed to Jonathan Mingo out of the backfield and the senior trotted into the end zone for a touchdown. The kick by Cruz put the Rebels up 14-0.
Mingo with the TD!!!!
Rebels lead Troy, 14-0! #HYDR pic.twitter.com/NOze2gO7R1— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) September 3, 2022
The lead moved to three scores on the next drive when Judkins blasted into the end zone from two yards and after the Cruz kick, the Rebels led 21-0.
In the waning seconds of the first half, Troy was able to add a field goal to make the score 21-3 heading into the break.
Early in the third, a former Mississippi State Bulldog scored a touchdown for the Rebels. Dart threw his first touchdown pass in Oxford when he hit Malik Heath with a 12-yard scoring strike and after the kick, Ole Miss held a 28-3 advantage.
Jaxson Dart complete to Malik Heath for the TD!! @MalikHeath2 🔥 pic.twitter.com/loVs2h3sYi
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) September 3, 2022
“This may sound strange, but when we get up 28-3 and things are going well… really wanted to see if we can establish some passing game for the future of the season and the confidence of our players in the passing game and the quarterback and the receivers,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said.
“We would have normally run a lot more in that third, early fourth quarter, but those guys looked really special, all three running backs. (Judkins) ran angry today, he’s a special freshman.”
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin
Judkins had 87 yards on the day and his first collegiate touchdown.
Here’s a look at Quinshon Judkins’ first collegiate TD! @qaj4_ 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/B0qEb9lyee
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) September 3, 2022
In his first appearance for the Rebels after transferring from USC, Dart completed 18-of-27 for 154 yards and a touchdown with an interception. His longest completion was 22 yards to Evans, but that can be attributed to taking what the Trojans gave him.
“First half, they were playing deep; they tried to keep everything in front of them, and that’s where we saw a lot of success in the run game,” Dart said.
“We gashed them a lot in the first half. I thought we started off with the first drive in the second half really well, and then we made some errors that were just on us. It had nothing to do with what they were doing. That’s just some of the things that we can control and do a lot better.”
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart
Luke Altmyer, who is expected to start next week against Central Arkansas, was 1-for-2 and 13 yards in relief.
In the second half the outcome was never in doubt. Although the Trojans did get into the end zone, this was easily the Rebels’ game.
“We showed sparks here and there of what we envision ourselves of a defense, but we have to stay grounded,” linebacker Troy Brown said.
“We are doing good things. We have to continue doing good things, but when we are doing bad things and we are off, we have to lock back in and get ahead of the game. There were times out there where we didn’t execute, and it showed, so that’s what we have to get back to.”
Brown finished with 11 tackles, one behind team leader’s Tysheem Johnson’s 12.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
