Honors & Awards
» Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2019, Coaches & Media)
» Doak Walker Award Watch List (2017 at Georgia Tech; 2020 at Nebraska)
» 2017 Gator Bowl MVP (at Georgia Tech)
» Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2020)
» Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2020)
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2020)
2020 (Senior)
Dedrick Mills was limited by injuries during his senior season, but he finished the year strong. Mills played in six games with five starts. He ranked second on the team with 84 carries, 396 rushing yards and three touchdowns, averaging 66.0 rushing yards per game. Mills also caught 13 passes for 86 yards.
Mills started each of the first three games at running back before being limited by an injury. He gained 25 yards on nine carries with one touchdown in the season opener at No. 5 Ohio State. Mills carried the ball 19 times for 59 yards and one touchdown at Northwestern. Mills had three carries for 11 yards on Nebraska's opening drive against Penn State, before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the game. The injury also forced him to sit out the Illinois and Iowa games. He returned in the win at Purdue, leading the Huskers with 16 carries for 60 yards and scoring one touchdown. Mills had 12 carries for 50 yards and a six-yard reception against Minnesota. As he continued to get healthier, Mills showed his ability in Nebraska's season-ending win at Rutgers. Mills set career highs of 191 rushing yards, 46 receiving yards and 237 scrimmage yards against the Knights. He averaged 7.6 yards on 25 carries, including a season-long 50-yard run.
2019 (Junior)
Mills led Nebraska in rushing while earning honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition in his first season as a Husker. Mills rushed for 745 yards on 143 carries, averaging 5.2 yards per rush. He also led Nebraska with a pair of 100-yard rushing games and 10 rushing touchdowns, becoming just the second Husker in six seasons to find the end zone on 10 or more runs. Mills also set career highs with 15 catches for 123 yards.
Mills led Nebraska with 44 rushing yards against South Alabama, and he scored both of the Huskers’ offensive touchdowns by running for a pair of scores. The next week at Colorado, Mills set then-career highs with two receptions for 24 yards, including a career-long 20-yard catch. He enjoyed his best performance of the non-conference season against Northern Illinois, rushing for 116 yards and one touchdown on only 11 carries, marking his third career 100-yard rushing game and first at Nebraska. Mills had a career-long 61-yard run against the Huskies.
At Illinois, Mills scored two rushing touchdowns and had 45 yards to reach 1,000 career rushing yards. Mills had 11 carries for 67 yards and one touchdown against Ohio State. Mills also scored NU’s lone touchdown at Minnesota, and he had a six-yard touchdown run at Purdue.
Mills had a career game against No. 15 Wisconsin, which entered the game with a rushing defense ranked fifth nationally, allowing only 84.4 yards per game. Mills more than doubled that total himself, carrying the ball 17 times for a career-high 188 yards. He averaged more than 11 yards per carry and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run. He then battled an illness at Maryland, rushing for 65 yards on 12 carries in the first half before sitting out the second half. Against Iowa, Mills carried the ball a season-high 24 times and gained 94 yards against a Hawkeye defense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing defense in 2019. Mills also set career highs with four receptions and 34 receiving yards against the Hawkeyes.
Before Nebraska (Ware County HS/Georgia Tech/Garden City [Kan.] CC)
Mills had previous experience as a freshman at Georgia Tech and in the junior college ranks at Garden City Community College. In 2018 at Garden City, Mills rushed for 1,358 yards and 19 touchdowns in 10 games. He produced six 100-yard rushing efforts and had at least 240 rushing yards in three games, helping Garden City to a 10-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking. Mills ranked fourth in the National Junior College Athletic Association in rushing yards and rushing yards per game (135.8), and he led the NJCAA with his 19 rushing touchdowns. For his efforts, Mills was named an honorable-mention junior college All-American. Mills was limited by injuries in his first season at Garden City in 2017, carrying the ball just seven times for 59 yards.
Prior to Garden City, Mills spent his freshman season at Georgia Tech in 2016. Mills played in nine games with the Yellow Jackets and was the team’s leading rusher with 771 yards and 85.7 yards per game. He scored 12 touchdowns and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.
Mills played his high school ball for Ware County High School in Georgia, where he started every game of his career. Mills rushed for 1,211 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, when he earned all-state recognition as a linebacker after totaling 96 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. Mills rushed for 584 yards en route to being a second-team all-region selection as a junior.
Mills was the No. 1 junior college running back in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He only visited Nebraska, but also had offers from Arkansas State and Memphis.
Personal
Dedrick was born on Dec. 27, 1996, and he is the son of Sharon Mills. He is a child, youth and family studies major. Mills attended a Black Student-Athlete Summit in 2019-20, and he has also volunteered his time with a Day of Service, the Nebraska Football Road Race and local hospital visits.