Twenty-Two Names to Know for the Ole Miss Season: No. 7 Ulysses Bentley IV

OXFORD, Miss. – As we lead up to week one in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the kickoff of Ole Miss football’s 2024 season, The Rebel Walk team is highlighting one player each day for our ‘Ole Miss 22’ rankings. We’ll break down who they are, how they got here, and what we expect from each.

Today, we look at the No. 7 player on the list, Running Back, Ulysses Bentley IV. 

Having been a part of the Ole Miss backfield for the past two seasons, a door has been opened for Bentley IV. A fan favorite and counterpart to former running back Quinshon Judkins, Bentley IV now seems to be the leader of the Ole Miss running back room — a group to which head coach Lane Kiffin has added a lot of intriguing pieces this offseason.

How did Ulysses Bentley IV arrive at Ole Miss?

A three-star recruit, Bentley played his high school career at C.E. King just outside downtown Houston. For the 2018 season, Bentley rushed 50 times for 518 rushing yards while leading his team to the high school playoffs in Texas. After offers from schools like Syracuse and Houston, Bentley chose to attend SMU as a member of the class of 2019.

After appearing in only four games during his freshman season at SMU, Bentley redshirted for the Mustangs. He rushed seven times for 36 yards. In his sophomore year, Bentley made a major impact after becoming the starter for SMU in 2020. He earned several accolades including All-AAC first team and Co-Rookie of the Year for the conference. Bentley followed it up with another year as the starter in 2021 where he eanred second team All-AAC honors.

After the 2021 season, Bentley entered the transfer portal following his three seasons at SMU. The coach at SMU, Sonny Dykes, left to take the job at TCU. It was soon after that Ole Miss would receive a commitment from Bentley where he has been a part of the Rebels for the past two seasons.

Career Outlook

Between both his time at SMU and Ole Miss, Bentley has amassed over 2,100 yards on the ground and a total of 23 rushing touchdowns. Last year, Bentley was graded out as the top rated rusher for the Rebels per pff, at 89.5.

Going back to his time at SMU, in 2020 Bentley ran for 913 yards on 170 rushes and a 5.4 yards per carry. He also totaled 11 touchdowns. During that year, he led the AAC in both rushing yards and attempts. This was also a COVID-shortened season and SMU played in a total of 10 games. In 2021, Bentley split carries in a backfield with Tre Siggers who transferred to SMU from North Texas. In 11 games both Siggers and Bentley combined for 1300 yards. In 2021, Garrett Riley fully took over offensive coordinator duties and opted for a more pass-heavy approach with a new QB.

AT OLE MISS: Arriving at Ole Miss in 2022, Bentley was behind both Zach Evans and Quinshon Judkins on the depth chart. As well as a deep running back group, Bentley also dealt with a wrist injury that kept him inactive for part of the season. Bentley saw action in six games in his first year in Oxford totaling 73 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. His highlighted performance was against Georgia Tech where he ran eight times and found the endzone twice in a 42-0 route.

Last season, Bentley found himself in a healthier spot as the change of pace back for Ole Miss. Rushing the ball 95 times on the year, Bentley’s yards per carry bumped itself back up to 5.7 yards per carry as he totaled 540 rushing yards. He also was a key feature for the Rebels special teams unit as the primary returner.

Heading into 2024

For the first time since 2020, Bentley is poised to be the primary running back. That could change at any point throughout the season; however, Bentley has the production and history to carry the load as RB1 for a high-level team. Bentley graded out 10th for returning rushing grades in the P5. This is from every P5 team last year and doesn’t include transfers to a P5 program this year.With a supporting group of Domonique Thomas, Henry Parrish Jr., Rashad Amos, and Logan Diggs there are many options and packages the Rebels may roll out this upcoming season.

In all likelihood, barring any injuries this could be the first time since 2020 that Bentley gets back over that 100 carry mark. At 5’11 and 200 lbs, he offers a different skillset than his counterparts in the Ole Miss backfield last year. As a runner, Bentley can accelerate quickly with the ball in his hands. He has plus vision and can find the proper lanes to cut to get into the second and third levels of the defense. If Ole Miss can keep him clean off the initial hand-off, Bentley can get down field in a hurry with home run speed to break off plenty of chunk plays.

An area to monitor for Bentley is how he handles being a pass catcher and in pass protection. It wouldn’t be common for teams to sit back in zones similar to how they did in the early 2020’s for Ole Miss. If Bentley can be effective at getting some of these swings and short routes to the flat, he can help gain bigger yardage when teams sit back. Throughout his career he has recorded 53 total receptions, including 11 last year. With his size and the depth of this group, it’s likely we see Bentley as an early down back.

Camp Notes

Coming into camp this year, Rebel Walk insider Kam Wicker noted that it appeared Bentley was being treated cautiously as camp first started. On August 12th, it also seemed to us that Bentley was a full participant in practice where he “seemed to be at full speed now,” according to Kam.

Recently, Bentley was named to the Watch List for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. This is presented to the top college football player with ties to Texas. He has already been named to the Watch List for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the best running back in college football. And, most recently, he was included on the Senior Bowl Watch List.