Ole Miss’ Ulysses Bentley IV appreciates the depth of the Rebels’ running back room
OXFORD, Miss. — When Ulysses Bentley IV was at Southern Methodist University, he was running with the Mustangs.
Now in his second season at Ole Miss, he is running with the stallions.
Not only is he sharing time with preseason All-American Quinshon Judkins, but former Oregon State star Jam Griffin has recently joined the Rebels as well.
“Jam, actually you know, he’s just a great fit coming in,” Bentley said after practice Tuesday of his new teammate. “He runs very hard and he’s playing hard on special teams as well too, so I think he’s coming in and he’s definitely a good fit.”
Griffin, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored four touchdowns for the Beavers last season in 12 games, joins Judkins who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing last season with 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also added another score on a reception, a part of the offense Bentley hopes to contribute to this season.
“I’m playing running back, but they’re lining me up at slot receiver and letting me out to run a few routes. So I’m definitely liking what they’re doing with me.”
Ulysses Bentley IV
Bentley only caught one pass a season ago, but did score four touchdowns running the ball while sharing time with Judkins and Zach Evans who has moved on to the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
Ulysses Bentley with an incredible effort to get in the end zone.
The first Ole Miss touchdown of the season was a great one!pic.twitter.com/EMKvL706MV
— that SEC podcast (@thatSECpodcast) September 3, 2022
With the addition of Griffin to the backfield, the Ole Miss running back room has a great deal of depth that also includes four-star true freshman Kedrick Reescano and Matt Jones.
Head coach Lane Kiffin knows depth at the skill positions is vital in an offense that runs as fast as the Rebels.
“When you don’t (have depth) it shows up. Look at our scoring in the fourth quarter. We didn’t all of a sudden not know how to coach or we didn’t learn how to coach in the first quarter. That’s a product of going fast and not having depth to where you are over-playing players, unfortunately, and it wears on them. You used to be able to get away with it some because the defense was tired too, but now defenses have figured out how to rotate all their defensive spots so if you don’t have depth on offense, you’re not rotating. Now you’re playing 87-some plays and those guys are playing 40 plays each.”
Lane Kiffin
Bentley agrees with his coach’s assessment.
“Like I mentioned, we’re a fast offense so I mean if we get to like to like the fourth or fifth play, I got to get a little breather,” Bentley said. “I kind of tap my head like you got to bring one of them in. I definitely (think) more depth on that team for us guys (is good), you know just move the ball fast and and bring more guys in and create our offense to go faster.“
Ulysses Bentley IV
Ulysses Bentley showing good burst on this 40-yard touchdown run pic.twitter.com/ewRi9ZK9BQ
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) April 15, 2023
Ole Miss gets the chance to display its fast-paced offense Sept. 2 against Mercer at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athletics)
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.
