Ulysses Bentley IV ‘ran really special’ against Arkansas, giving Ole Miss another weapon

This is the Ulysses Bentley that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was expecting when he got the former SMU running back out of the transfer portal last year.

An injury-plagued 2022 season did not allow Bentley IV to reach that potential but this season is a different story altogether.

Bentley rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in No. 16 Ole Miss’ 27-20 win over Arkansas and nearly provided the Rebels its second 100-yard rusher in as many week.

In the final 13 minutes of the game Bentley provided two key runs that fueled yet another fourth quarter comeback for the Rebels for a second straight week. Trailing by three points Bentley scored on a seven-yard run to put Ole Miss back in front with less than eight minutes to go.

Bentley once again made a key play the following Ole Miss possession when he broke free for a 32-yard run to get down to the Arkansas three yard-line. The Rebels ended up settling for a Caden Davis field goal that proved to be the final score.

The starting running back is Quinhson Judkins but on this night it was Bentley who took the opportunity to show off his talents when called upon. Kiffin chose to go with the hot hand.

“Bentley ran really special today,” Kiffin said. “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. I think you see it in how we play players. If somebody is hot we’re going to go to them and Bentley was really hot.

The Ole Miss rushing attack could be peaking at the right time as the season hits the midway point.

Judkins is, as of now, still the starting running back in Kiffin’s offense, and he noted the sophomore did finish with five more carries than Bentley. But it is hard to not see Bentley’s production and effectiveness has overtaken Judkins’ at certain times.

Having both playing at this level in Southeastern Conference games is not a bad problem to have. Finally seeing Bentley reach the potential this Ole Miss coaching staff saw in him a season ago is a paying off as the offense is hitting its stride.

For quarterback Jaxson Dart, having Bentley compliment Judkins in the run game it helps take the pressure off him when the passing game is struggling.

“He’s a stud,” Dart said of Bentley. “He practices the exact same way he plays. He’s such a big energy-builder for our team. A great guy in the locker room. Just a guy that we trust a lot and he’s also very electric. He ans Quinshon are just very different in how they run the ball. You can kind of see that when ‘Doo’ comes in the game. It’s a completely different look than what they see from Quinshon. He’s super-shifty and can make people miss with his legs.”

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