Ole Miss sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins has emerged as one of the top contenders for the prestigious 2023 C Spire Conerly Trophy, as announced by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday. This recognition has generated excitement among college football enthusiasts.
The C Spire Conerly Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi, will unveil its winner on November 28th at the Country Club of Jackson. Judkins, a previous Conerly Trophy recipient in 2022, continues to showcase exceptional performance as the primary running back for Ole Miss in the 2023 season.
Judkins' remarkable statistics include 868 rushing yards, averaging 86.8 yards per game, with 14 touchdowns on 191 carries. He currently leads the SEC in rushing and ranks fourth nationally. Additionally, Judkins holds the second position in the conference and fourth nationally with a total of 15 touchdowns. Notably, he leads the SEC in missed tackles forced (51) and yards after contact (653), contributing significantly to his season rushing total.
In the current season, Judkins has achieved four 100-yard rushing games and four games with multiple rushing touchdowns. His standout performances in the SEC include 10 of his 14 rushing touchdowns, maintaining an impressive average of 103.3 yards per game on the ground.
On a national scale, Judkins stands out among all active FBS rushers, leading 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). He holds the distinction of being the sole active FBS rusher with over 1,500 career yards (2,435) and a per-game career rushing average in triple digits (105.9).
In his freshman year in 2022, Judkins set six single-season records and now aims to break several season and all-time career records at Ole Miss in 2023. With 14 rushing touchdowns this season, he is on the verge of surpassing his own record of 16 from the previous year, making him the only Ole Miss rusher with multiple seasons achieving at least 14 rushing scores. On the career list, Judkins currently ranks second all-time in rushing touchdowns (30), second in 100-yard rushing games (12), second in multi-rushing touchdown games (10), third in all-purpose touchdowns (32), fifth in rushing yards (2,435), and seventh in rushing attempts (465).
Notably, Judkins had an outstanding performance last season, marking the second-best rushing season by an SEC freshman. His school record of 1,567 yards was only surpassed by Herschel Walker of Georgia in 1980. In 2022, Judkins was named the CBS National Freshman of the Year and received a consensus first-team All-SEC selection. He was also included in the watch lists for the Maxwell, Walter Camp, and Doak Walker awards as a consensus preseason All-American.
The C Spire Conerly Trophy, named after College Football Hall of Famer and Ole Miss legend Charlie Conerly, has been presented since 1996. Notably, the trophy has been awarded to an Ole Miss player 11 times, the most for any program. Previous Ole Miss recipients include 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).
