Ulysses Bentley IV discusses what Logan Diggs brings to the team, talks Rebels’ mindset heading into Florida
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss travel to Gainesville, Florida, this weekend to face the Florida Gators in another critical SEC game. Coming off of the bye week, Lane Kiffin has commented that the health status of the team is much improved, including that of wide receiver Tre Harris and running back Logan Diggs.
While Harris is considered a go for this Saturday’s game, Diggs is listed as ‘questionable’ in Thursday night’s Availability Report. But that’s an improvement as he has been marked as ‘out’ for the entirety of the season until recently. On Thursday night’s Reb Talk, Coach Kiffin commented further on Diggs’ status.
“Well, (Diggs is) doing a good job. He’s still working his way back, not all the way back. But he’s made really good progress and it’d be really good to have a big back like that, that’s played in the SEC.”
Lane Kiffin on Logan Diggs
Rebel running back Ulysses Bentley IV, who practices every day with Diggs, says Diggs’ style of play is entirely different than his and would greatly benefit the scheme of Ole Miss.
“He is a big guy, he brings a lot of power running the ball. We have a lot of finesses guys like me. And he definitely brings a lot of power in the run game.”
– Bentley on Logan Diggs
Coming in at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, Diggs would be a legitimate threat for opposing defenses on short-yardage plays, especially in the red zone. Logan scored seven touchdowns with the LSU Tigers last year, including two against the Rebs in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Through the possible additions of Harris and Diggs, Ole Miss appears to be getting full strength at the perfect time of the season, coming off of a dominant 28-10 win over Georgia. Despite the eye-opening victory, the Rebs know they will continue to be challenged, needing to defeat Florida and Mississippi State to keep their playoff aspirations alive.
“It just keeps us going each and every day. Every game is critical, and like J-Wat (Jordan Watkins) said, we are taking these games like the playoffs, so we’re just going to continue to stack days and work hard.“
– Bentley on the mindset of Ole Miss
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As mentioned earlier, Bentley and the squad are heading down to The Swamp to face a competitive Gator team who’s coming off of an impressive 11-point win over LSU last Saturday. The Florida defense recorded seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and a total of 95 tackles on the day. For Bentley, even after seeing what the Gators are capable of, the running back has full confidence in Lane Kiffin’s offense to lead Ole Miss to victory.
“They’re a pretty good defense, at times they play with a high motor, but I think our offense is good enough to go out there and do what we do.”
– Bentley on the Florida defense
The Gators may see Bentley involved a bit in the passing game, as well. Against Georgia, he caught four passes for 38 yards. Bentley was asked if he sees himself helping the offense in this manner.
“Yeah, most definitely because we worked through that throughout the spring and fall and stuff like that, me running routes out of the backfield. It’s definitely useful and it’s definitely… it works on a lot of teams.”
Bentley on contributing in the passing game
Game info
The game will kickoff at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on ABC. As always, be sure to stay tuned with The Rebel Walk until then. Go Rebs, and Hotty Toddy!