After leading Ole Miss football to a top-10 win over Kentucky at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Quinshon Judkins and Micah Pettus earned weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference.

Judkins was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week, while Pettus became the second Rebel blocker this year to be named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week, joining Nick Broeker on the league office's honor roll. An Ole Miss player has now been honored by the SEC in three consecutive weeks.

Judkins continued his phenomenal freshman campaign, racking up 106 yards on just 15 carries with one touchdown in his SEC debut against the Wildcats. The rookie out of Pike Road, Ala., is the leading rusher on the No. 5 rushing offense in college football with 535 yards and six touchdowns on 85 carries. Judkins leads all freshmen nationally in rushing yards and leads all SEC rushers in yards per carry at 6.3. He has scored a touchdown in four of his five career games and has already reached the end zone more times this season than any freshman running back in the SEC since 2019.

"He's great," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. "He was really struggling earlier in the week physically from all the pounding two weeks ago (in a 35-27 win over Tulsa). He was better by the end of the week. He was good today, even though it was a walk-through. He didn't take the pounding (Saturday) that he took the week before. He's doing a phenomenal job."

Pettus, meanwhile, made his first career start, slotting in at right tackle as nearly the entire line shifted around due to injuries. The redshirt freshman out of Madison, Ala., native graded out at 94 percent in his first career start. He keyed a line that did not surrender a sack, recording 10 knockdowns with no pressures or missed assignments. Behind Pettus, the Rebel rushing attack totaled 186 yards and averaged 4.8 yards per carry against a stingy Kentucky defense.

"I don't know how they come up with that," Kiffin said, "but he did play great. He was really physical, the way we talk about straining to finish people, violent with attitude, and that was awesome to see."

"I always feel like I'm the best out there but it's nice to be noticed, especially on my first start," Pettus said. "The sky's the limit if I keep pushing every day."

Pettus didn't play or travel last season and then he saw Ole Miss go into the transfer portal, adding a player at his position.

"I'm really competitive and I just decided what I was doing wasn't enough," Pettus said. "I had to get better and I took some advice from guys like Caleb Warren and Broeker and Jeremy James on how they got on the field early. So I started working out and eating better, doing things outside of what's required of us."

Kiffin said Pettus' development is "probably the biggest we've been around in over a year," adding that Pettus was a "long ways from playing a year ago" to the dedicated player who emerged this summer.

"He just completely changed himself mentally and physically," Kiffin said. "It's awesome to see."

In the spring, Pettus said he began to feel a difference. It showed on Saturday against Kentucky.

"I felt I played well," Pettus said. "That helped me because the guys next to me, the other offensive linemen, they played really well. We were all on the same page. The sky's the limit for us."

Kiffin said Monday he'd like to see Ole Miss develop more depth and more rotation on the offensive front to keep linemen fresher later in the game.

"I'm cool with that," Pettus said. "We've got guys who can go. We've got depth on the offensive line positions. Coach (Jake) Thornton coaches us up every week and makes sure everybody knows what they've got. We come in and get extra film, so I'm confident that anybody we put out there will get the job done."

Judkins, Pettus and the Rebels (5-0, 1-0 SEC) will hit the road this weekend to take on Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-1). Saturday's kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

The SEC announced an 11 a.m. kickoff for Ole Miss' Oct. 15 home football game vs. Auburn, with the contest televised on ESPN.

Kiffin said he learned of the time prior to Monday's press conference.

"It's the same time, same network, same everything, so let's redo that from an atmosphere standpoint the exact same way, regardless of what teams are ranked or any of that," Kiffin said, referring to the electric vibes at Vaught-Hemingway for the Kentucky game. "It dramatically impacts our program. It's huge, so let's do it again."

This game will mark the 47th meeting all-time between Ole Miss and Auburn dating back to 1928. Auburn leads the series 35-10, including a 13-2 mark in Oxford.

The matchup against the Tigers will also serve as Ole Miss' annual Military Appreciation game.