‘Super shifty’ Ole Miss RB Ulysses Bentley IV is complementing Quinshon Judkins and helping the Rebels win games
OXFORD, Miss. — For the first time in the 2023 season, Ole Miss ran for at least 150 yards in back-to-back games, first against LSU (317 rushing yards) and now Arkansas (196).
Running backs Quinshon Judkins (443 yards rushing) and Ulysses Bentley IV (275 yards) have combined for 718 of the team’s 1100 yards this season, complementing one another perfectly over the past two weeks.
Ulysses talked with media after practice Monday and described the difference between himself and Judkins and why they mesh so smoothly.
“Q is pretty much the power back. He pretty much runs through the holes, runs people over, all types of things, but you know me, I’m able to just look through different schemes like that and win my one-on-ones. I kinda have a little finesse game to myself.”
Ulysses Bentley IV on how he and Quinshon complement each other
Ole Miss RB Ulysses Bentley (@BentleyDoo) reached a max speed of 20.7 mph on this 44-yard touchdown. #ReelSpeed @LandSharkNation
🎥: @ESPNCFB
🔗 https://t.co/orrD059ykP pic.twitter.com/fFDNZq4wr3
— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) October 2, 2023
An example of Judkins’ and Bentley’s complementary play styles executed to perfection came early in the fourth quarter when Judkins took a handoff for 34 yards downfield to the Arkansas 27-yard line.
From then on Bentley IV took over, completing the drive with runs of six yards, three yards and a seven-yard touchdown. Seven of the final nine carries from a running back in the win over Arkansas came from Ulysses.
Instead of feeling the pressure of the fourth quarter, Bentley IV says that’s the time when he steps up the most.
“We kinda knew it was crunch time during that fourth quarter, so we knew we had to take over and run the ball extremely hard to get to another win.”
Ulysses Bentley IV on the Arkansas game
On top of Bentley’s impressive touchdown run, he also later ran a handoff for 32 yards with 5:44 remaining in the game, setting up a critical field goal that gave Ole Miss a 27-20 lead with 2:43 left in the game.
Ulysses finished his performance as the leading rusher for the Rebs against the Razorbacks with 94 yards on 13 carries, the most of any rusher in the Vaught last Saturday.
After the win, head coach Lane Kiffin talked about his two star backs.
“He ran well today,” Kiffin said of Judkins, who notched 65 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown.
“Bentley ran really special today. This program, we maybe don’t do it like some other people. If somebody’s hot, it don’t matter what you did the year before, where you came from, how many stars, what you did in the portal, any of that stuff. And I think you see it by the way we play players. If someone’s hot, we’re going to go to him.”
Lane Kiffin on Ulysses Bentley IV
Despite it being only halfway through the season, Bentley is averaging the most yards of his entire college career at 7.4 per carry.
“That’s pretty consistent,” Kiffin said. “I’m the first to tell you when players make plays. That touchdown drive that he’s on, we don’t block the free safety and he makes him miss. On the last run, he makes a guy miss in the hole. He’s done a great job, and it’s a really great story of a guy that just battles, even when he hasn’t been given carries sometimes. Last year he got hurt. So, it’s really good to see guys who do things right every day … and then they play really well.”
As for Bentley IV, he credits the work that is done in practice and the help of running backs coach Kevin Smith.
“Like I mentioned, just working on it in practice. Coach (Smith) always tells us when we are running the ball to finish through and go to the endzone. I kinda do that all the time and that’s what leads me to have those yards like that,” Bentley expained.
That’s how you @BentleyDoo it
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/TeoKX6OT9p
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 8, 2023
Bentley’s production has not gone unnoticed from his quarterback, either, as Jaxson Dart discussed the talented rusher.
Secret Weapon in the backfield 🔥@BentleyDoo | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/hUVRzMcBwG
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 8, 2023
“He’s a stud. You know, he’s such a big energy builder for our team. He’s super shifty and can make a lot of people miss in the open field so he’s pretty electric with his legs, he makes great plays.”
Jaxson Dart on Ulysses Bentley IV
As Ole Miss approaches the second half of the season, Bentley says the team can now focus on the game plan instead of trying to put all of the new pieces together.
“You bring a lot of transfers in, and it’s kinda hard to figure out everything within the team and stuff like that. But I think now we are figuring out things from the offensive and defensive side and we are able to go hard each and every day to get a win,” Bentley said.
Next up, after enjoying a bye this Saturday the Rebels will go for a win on October 21 against Auburn on the road. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
