Henry Parrish Jr. looking towards rebounding with Ole Miss against South Carolina in Week 6….
Ole Miss is in the midst of climbing their first uphill battle of the 2024 season as a team, following their stunning home loss to Kentucky over the weekend.
The Rebels returned to the Manning Center Sunday for film study and Monday to begin their preparations for their road trip to South Carolina in Week 6. One major topic of discussion over the course of the season — and now amplified after the team’s first loss — has been Ole Miss’ running back room.
The Rebels are averaging 216 rushing yards per game this season, but are coming off a Week 5 outing that saw them rush for 92 yards on 29 carries (3.2 YPC). Senior running back Henry Parrish Jr. has been manning most of the load and is second among SEC players in rushing yards with 489 yards through five games.
The Rebels’ 5-foot-10, 185-pound back has received double the amount of carries (70) of any other runner on the squad.
“I’m feeling good. Taking it day-by-day (and) getting rehab. Just being a pro and taking care of my body,” Parrish told reporters Monday in regards to his health. What went wrong for Ole Miss’ rush attack Saturday afternoon, according to their lead back?
“We played ourselves. We beat ourselves,” Parrish reflected. “We just gotta go out there with a mindset that it’s us versus us, not versus other teams. We know what we have and just have to go out there with the mindset we’re going to dominate the guy (in front of) us…We just missed opportunities that we did on ourselves. We beat ourselves up and we just got to get back in the film room, see what we missed and grow from it.”
Does Parrish expect Ulysses Bentley IV to take more carries from him this season?
“Of course,” Parrish said of an increased workload for Bentley. “Doo (Bentley) puts in the work daily. He grinds everyday and puts his head down to work, so you never know. Whenever your number is called you got to go in there and execute at a high level.”
In non-conference play it may not matter as much, but in SEC play, Ole Miss’ running backs are going to be relied upon to provide extra blocking when necessary…which will essentially be every week moving forward.
“I take that with a passion, especially with Jaxson Dart next to me. You have to protect the quarterback with your life, like Coach Smith says. Just protecting him like your life depends on it. I go out there with a mindset that pass protection is key, I just have to do my job…It’s mainly everything. Technique, heart and just mindset and the will power to dominate the guy in front of you and just going 1-0.”
“We do daily film with the offensive line, making sure the offensive line and running backs are on the same page,” Parrish said of protection packages. “Just going through our reads and making sure everybody’s on the same page.”
“The guys in the building, that’s who we need and that’s who we got around us. All the outside noise really doesn’t mean anything,” he added. “The guys who are in the building, we got each other’s back. We’re the ones putting in the work day in and day out. Just knowing you have a brother next to you and then knowing you’re going to dominate the guy in front of you.”
Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1 SEC) will hit the road to South Carolina for a Week 6 matchup against the Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 SEC) . Next Saturday’s game (Oct. 5) against South Carolina can be seen on ESPN with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. CT. Fans will also be able to listen to the game through the Ole Miss Radio Network. The Rebels are currently listed as 8.5-point road favorites over South Carolina.
“I feel like everybody is back regular,” Parrish said. “It’s just one loss, it won’t identify our season. We just got to come in daily, putting our head down to work. We know what we have in this room, what we have in our unit. Just us versus us.”