Last Saturday, during the third quarter of the No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels' 34-27 loss to the No. 11 Texas Longhorns, Rebels star running back Kewan Lacy was forced to leave the game with an injury.
Yesterday, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding announced Lacy would miss the Auburn game with a dislocated shoulder. Lacy has struggled with injuries throughout the season, even having to miss the Florida game with a different shoulder injury.
Makhi Frazier has been the primary backup to Lacy and has taken most of the carries while Lacy's dealing with his injuries. In Frazier's 51 carries, he's rushed for 301 yards and no touchdowns.
Although Frazier is still expected to get a good amount of carries in Lacy's absence, the Rebels have another running back in Shekai Mills-Knight who's been knocking on the door for more opportunities.
Why Shekai Mills-Knight Deserves an Opportunity
Shekai Mills-Knight was a four-star commit in Ole Miss' recruiting class of 2025. Mills-Knight is listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, and attended Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, although he's from Montreal, Canada.
In his 2025 freshman season, he ran the ball just eight times for 25 yards. This season, he's carried the ball four times for 42 yards and his first career touchdown.
His 35-yard touchdown came in the fourth quarter of the Rebels' 52-17 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The touchdown run is the longest rush all year for Ole Miss.
Compared to other running backs, Mills-Knight is the only one besides Lacy to score a touchdown this season. He also leads the running backs in yards per carry, though that number is largely skewed by him only having four rushes.
Besides Frazier, other running backs competing with Mills-Knight for play time are JT Lindsey and Joshua Dye. Lindsey followed Ole Miss' running backs coach Frank Wilson from LSU to Ole Miss this past offseason, and Dye transferred from Southern Utah, an FCS school, to Ole Miss last offseason after rushing for 1,831 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2025.
Lindsey has the third-most carries among the running backs, behind Lacy and Frazier, but has just 3.4 yards per carry on his 25 carries. Against Florida, the last game Lacy missed with an injury, Lindsey ran the ball 11 times for just 31 yards.
Heading into the game against Auburn, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding seems to be keeping his options open at running back.
"I think Makhi's come in and played well. I think, with Kewan being out this week, Shekai is going to have a real opportunity this week as well. Obviously JT's still in the room ... and then Josh got in there and did some good things," Golding said on Monday. "We're going to need all those guys moving forward to be honest with you."
As uncertainty looms in the running back room, it's time for Ole Miss to give Mills-Knight more opportunities on the field and see if he can be the next breakout player for the Rebels' offense that needs more juice in the running game.
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