Lane Kiffin Gives Review of Running Back Room After Week 1 vs. Furman

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin saw some positives out of his running game in Week 1, but he also sees room for improvement.

Aug 31, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Matt Jones (0) runs the ball for a touchdown during the second half against the Furman Paladins at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels had little trouble with the FCS Furman Paladins in their season opener on Saturday, and one area of the field that looked different than a year ago was the running back room.

After the departure of Quinshon Judkins via the transfer portal to Ohio State, Ole Miss was tasked with revamping its rushing attack this offseason. A key returner in the room was Ulysses Bentley IV, but the Rebels also added Henry Parrish Jr. and Rashad Amos out of the portal.

None of those names led the team in rushing, however, as that honor belonged to Matt Jones on Saturday with 68 yards on three carries, two of which resulted in touchdowns. Those scores came when the game was already well in-hand in the second half, but how did head coach Lane Kiffin view the production of his running backs after the game?

Kiffin discussed their performance in a media Zoom call on Sunday evening.

"I thought they ran well," Kiffin said. "Protection was not clean. Got a little better, started poorly on the physical side, and mentally, missed a blitz on the sack. We've got work to do there, but they did protect the ball, the whole team with no turnovers in a high play-count game.

"Was great to see them continue the ball security from last year where we're No. 1 or 2 in the country."

Aug 31, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) hands the ball off to Mississippi Rebels running back Ulysses Bentley IV (24) during warm ups prior to the game against the Furman Paladins at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Parrish was the first back out of the gate on Saturday, putting up 40 yards on eight carries paired with Bentley's 23 yards on six carries. Amos also saw three touches resulting in 10 yards.

Before Amos entered the game in the second half, however, Matt Jones saw some time at running back. Is that something Ole Miss fans can expect more of moving forward as he has worked his way onto the roster after waiting in the wings for multiple years?

"It's so unique nowadays for someone to stay at places and fight through adversity and rosters," Kiffin said. "It's awesome. He was down in the service team as a walk-on and made our defense miss about every time a couple years ago. Brought him up, and he's just always performed really well. He's going to see more playing time because of it."

It's tough to draw too many conclusions from the running back performance on Saturday, but it will be interesting to see how Ole Miss distributes carries in the room moving forward. The Rebels did put up 243 yards on the ground this week (194 of which came from running backs), but that aspect of the game was overshadowed by Ole Miss' dominant passing attack.

For now, it seems that Kiffin sees some positives in the ground game, but there is also room for improvement.