By Robert Wilson
The NCAA doesn’t keep football stats on touchdowns per rushing attempt, but if they did Jackson Prep alumnus, Ole Miss transfer and current Southern Miss running back Matt Jones might be near the top of the leaderboard.
The 6-foot, 202-pound graduate student has scored a TD each in the last two games to help the Golden Eagles improve to 5-2 this season and 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Going into this season, Jones was averaging a touchdown about every 10 carries, a remarkable stat. He had gained 309 yards on 59 carries and scored six IDs in his three year career at Ole Miss.
With his two TDs in the past two games, Jones has 187 yards – second on the team – on 48 carries for Southern Miss this season.
For his career, Jones is averaging a TD every 15.2 carries.
Consider this: there are only two players in the Top 10 in rushing in the Sun Belt who average better.
So when Southern Miss gets close to the goal line, watch out for No. 5 (Jones) to come into the game to deliver the Golden Eagles another score.
Two of Jones’ best friends are Jackson Prep and Ole Miss alumni – Jerrion Ealy and Cam Brent – aren’t surprised about Jones’ success getting to the end zone.
Ealy was a star in football and baseball at Prep and played both at Ole Miss. Considered one of the top baseball players in the country coming out of high school, Ealy focused on football at Ole Miss and made the practice squad of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. He is now living in Kansas and starting his own contractor business.
“My relationship with Matt started a very long time ago, pretty much his first year at Prep,” Ealy said. “I’ve seen him develop on and off the field. That’s my brother from another mother. I am very proud of what he has accomplished and what he will accomplish. He’s a gamer. Matt understands the game, from defensive schemes to defensive fronts, patience, the ability to run around or through you and his ability to keep defenders off the quarterback are some of the reasons why he’s a great player.”
Brent was a ball handling and 3-point expert for Prep and was a walk-on player for Ole Miss. He set school records with 43 points and 12 3-pointers and helped Prep to two MAIS Overall Tournament championships. Brent – son of former Jackson State men’s basketball coach Wayne Brent – is now in graduate school at Ole Miss. He is a sports agent and works with NBA, NFL and NIL college players for basketball and football.
“Matt and I have a special relationship,” Brent said. “We met when we were around 7 or 8 years old. We played peewee football together, and ended up playing Little League basketball together. From there we followed each other everywhere, once we got to middle school we both wanted to go to school together so we decided transfer to Jackson Prep together. When it was time for college, we decided to stick together once again and both continue our careers at Ole Miss. Even though he was on the football team and I was on the basketball team, we decided to room together. I saw the amount of work he was putting in outside of team practice so I knew it would not be long before he saw some opportunity at Ole Miss. I think Matt’s character along with his determination got him to that point and also led to success at Southern Miss. He has won at every level in high school, at Ole Miss and now off to a winning start at USM. I expect him to end his college career with a Sun Belt championship.”
Jones followed Ealy as the star running back at Prep. He had 1,504 rushing yards and 30 TDs as a junior and 1,064 all-purpose yards and 20 TDs despite being injured during the year as a senior. He also lettered in basketball and track and field.
Jones’ high school coach – former National Coach of the Year and Mississippi Hall of Fame member Ricky Black – loved coaching Jones.
“Matt did it all – he ran the ball, caught the ball, and played on special teams,” Black said. “He came right behind Ealy, and was maybe a little bit slower but just as quick and had a great career. Matt played so well and always played hard. He’s a big play type of guy. I’m very proud of his success at Ole Miss and now at Southern Miss.”
Jones was a walk on at Ole Miss, but earned a scholarship.
“Deciding to walk on was just a decision of coming down to betting on myself,” Jones said on a SI.com story in Sept, 2024. “I knew I could play at a Power Five level. Coming out of high school, I had a couple of mid-major offers, but my mentor was Jerrion Ealy, and I just wanted to follow in his footsteps. Now here I am. Soaking in the knowledge from each and all the guys that have come through. The biggest thing was in high school, was that the greatest thing in the world is understanding. So I just tried to understand every single scheme, basically understanding football.”
Jones is the son of Carmen and Carlos Jones.
“Matt started playing football when he was 5 years old,” Carmen said. “Matt always had heart. He has grown into a great football player and we are very proud of him. He played for Carlos on the Jackson Bears when he was young and getting growing and getting better. I’m proud he got his degree last year (in business administration from Ole Miss) and has adjusted well to Southern Miss and loves and respects (first-year Southern Miss) Coach (Charles) Huff. Matt loves nutrition and working out.”
Southern Miss and Jones go for their fourth straight Sun Belt victory Saturday when they play host to Louisiana-Monroe for homecoming in Hattiesburg. A win would give the Golden Eagles their sixth win this season and make them bowl eligible, quite a turnaround from last year’s one win season.
