OXFORD — Ole Miss sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins is one of 10 nominees for the 2023 C Spire Conerly Trophy, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced Tuesday. The C Spire Conerly Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi. The winner will be announced Nov. 28 at the Country Club of Jackson.
“It’s definitely an honor to be nominated has the best player in Mississippi,” Judkins said Tuesday, as the 13th-ranked Rebels (8-2 overall, 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference) prepare for Saturday’s home finale (11 a.m., SEC Network) versus Sun Belt cellar-dweller Louisiana-Monroe (2-8). “That’s something I came to Ole Miss for, to be the best player I could be in the country.”
Judkins, the reigning Conerly Trophy winner from 2022, is in the midst of another excellent season as Ole Miss' feature back in 2023. Judkins currently has 868 rushing yards (86.8 YPG) and 14 touchdowns on 191 carries, with his 14 rushing scores leading the SEC and ranking fourth nationally.
Judkins' 15 total touchdowns ranks second in the conference and fourth nationally, and per PFF he leads the SEC in both missed tackles forced (51) and yards after contact (653) – the latter of which accounts for 75 percent of his entire season rushing total. This year, Judkins has four 100-yard rushing games and four games with multiple rushing touchdowns, and he has been especially productive in SEC season with 10 of his 14 rushing scores and a per-game average of 103.3 yards on the ground.
Judkins said he’s focused on the finish to the season, starting with ULM and then concluding with a Thanksgiving night showdown with Mississippi State in Starkville.
“Coach (Lane) Kiffin has explained to the team is definitely a big point that we can make history and do something that’s never been done before here,” Judkins said, referring to the opportunity to win 10 regular season games for the second time in three years and the third time in program history.
A year ago, Ole Miss started 8-1 and lost its final four games. Judkins believes the Rebels will have a different outcome this time around.
“I feel like it’s a different team than last year,” Judkins said. “This year everyone is still motivated to make history and do something that’s never been done here at Ole Miss.” Nationally, Judkins leads all active FBS rushers in career rushing attempts per game (20.2), rushing yards per game (105.9), all-purpose plays per game (21.6) and all-purpose yards per game (117.4). Judkins is also the only active FBS rusher with at least 1,500 career yards (2,435) and a per-game career rushing average in the triple digits (105.9).
“We started slow early on in the season not playing as well as we wanted to overall,” Judkins said. “But I think we have progressively all gotten better as far as players, coaches and everyone. We have progressed a lot and we still have more to go.”
The Conerly Trophy has been awarded to an Ole Miss player 11 times, more than any other program: Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (1999), Eli Manning (2001, 2003), Patrick Willis (2006), Bo Wallace (2012), Evan Engram (2016), A.J. Brown (2017), Elijah Moore (2020), Matt Corral (2021) and Quinshon Judkins (2022).
2023 C SPIRE CONERLY TROPHY FINALISTS
Alcorn State – QB Aaron Allen
Belhaven – RB Kolbe Blunt
Delta State – QB Patrick Shegog
Jackson State – RB Irv Mulligan
Millsaps – P Ethan Klapatch
Mississippi College – RB Marcus Williams
Mississippi State – LB Bookie Watson
Mississippi Valley State – C Rondey Luckett
Ole Miss – RB Quinshon Judkins
Southern Miss – RB Frank Gore Jr.
Dart named Davey O’Brien semifinalist: Ole Miss football junior quarterback Jaxson Dart has been named a semifinalist for the 2023 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, the Davey O'Brien Foundation announced Tuesday.
Dart is one of 20 quarterbacks named as semifinalists nationally and one of five selected from the SEC for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 20 quarterbacks have helped guide their respective teams to a combined record of 171-30 (.851) and lead 18 of the top-25 teams in the latest Associated Press poll. In all, eight FBS conferences as well as one football independent are represented on the list. The Pac-12 and SEC lead the way with five honorees apiece.
This is the latest honor for Dart, who was also recently added to both the Maxwell Award and Manning Award watch lists and is in the midst of an excellent 2023 season marshaling a Rebel offense that ranks third in the SEC in both scoring (36.6 ppg) and total offense (466.2 ypg). On the year, Dart stands at 170-of-261 (65.1 percent) for 2,579 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. Dart has also been highly effective on the ground, ranking second in the SEC among QBs in yards per carry (3.7), third in touchdowns (seven) and fourth in yards per game (35.4).
Dart ranks fourth in the conference and 16th nationally at 293.3 yards of total offense per game, and he also ranks fourth in the SEC at 14.0 points responsible per game. Nationally, Dart ranks within the top-15 in yards per attempt at 9.9 (No. 5), yards per completion at 15.2 (No. 8) and passing efficiency at 164.5 (No. 12).
The Kaysville, Utah, native is also starting to climb several all-time lists at Ole Miss. Entering Week 12 action, Dart ranks sixth all-time in total offense (6,521), seventh in career 300-yard passing games (5), eighth in passing yards (5,553), eighth in passing touchdowns (36) and ninth in touchdowns responsible for (44). In his overall career combining totals from his freshman season at USC in 2021, Dart owns 6,906 yards passing, 7,917 yards of total offense, 1,011 yards rushing (968 at Ole Miss), and 45 passing touchdowns.
Dart is one of just 21 quarterbacks in the FBS and four within the SEC with at least 4,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards, as well as one of 17 with at least 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. With 94 more passing yards, Dart would become just the 15th active FBS quarterback at 7,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
The next step in the process will be to select the award's three finalists. The finalists will again be chosen based on voting from the Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee as well as bonus ballots awarded from the second round of the Davey O'Brien Fan Vote.
For the fourth straight year, the Fan Vote will take place on the award's three social media platforms – Facebook,Instagram and Twitter (X) – and the top five vote getters on each platform will receive bonus committee member ballots which will be added to the votes cast by the National Selection Committee.
To participate in the Fan Vote, fans must like the original Davey O'Brien Award post highlighting their quarterback. The second round will be open until Friday, Nov. 24 at noon (CT). The three finalists will be tabbed on Tuesday, Nov. 28, while the winner will be announced live on Friday, Dec. 8, on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
The Davey O'Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O'Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.
In 1938, O'Brien, who was a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.
The 47th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Judkins updates Dart’s status: Dart went down late in the Rebels’ loss at Georgia this past Saturday and didn’t return. However, Judkins said Tuesday Dart was at practice earlier in the day and “was moving good.”
“He looks the same so that was good to see,” Judkins said.
