OXFORD, Miss. — The depth of Ole Miss’ offensive line has been tested consistently through the first half of the season. Saturday’s win against Missouri was no different.
During the second quarter in Week 7, starting center Brycen Sanders went down with a lower-body injury, forcing him to miss critical sequences. In his absence, Patrick Kutas had to slide in his place while Troy Everett was inserted at right guard.
Kutas said he dusted off some ‘cobwebs’ for the in-game situation, but it was also a scenario that Ole Miss has been preparing for since his arrival to Oxford ahead of the 2025 season.
“It was fun. It was good to get a little switch up,” Kutas said Tuesday. “Kind of knock some cobwebs off, but I thought we had dudes that could plug and play really well. That was very good to see.”
“I play a lot of center during spring ball, fall camp and then occasionally I’ll get the reps during the (practice) week. But since I’ve played (center) in a game, it’s been my sophomore year.”
For those reasons it’s easy for the veteran to want to think like a center.
“I think with me it’s like I play right guard, but I think like a center,” Kutas explained. “Even though I’m playing right guard, I still like to know what’s going on with all the spots and calls and stuff like that.”
Easier Said Than Done
However, when Kutas had to make protection calls it reminded him of the appreciation he has for Sanders’ responsibilities up front.
“You kind of take Brycen for granted when he’s out there just because he’s dialing up everything,” he said. “All the calls and then you get thrown in and it’s like, ‘Oh wow, he’s doing a lot of the work’. Definitely the mental side.
Ole Miss’ offensive line hasn’t been talked about much this season, which is typically a good thing for the guys up front. This season, through injuries and rotations at the tackle position, the Rebels have been consistently protecting Trinidad Chambliss and helping create run gaps.
Ole Miss has surrendered just five sacks total and has averaged 153 rushing yards per game through six games.
“I think we make an emphasis every week that we’re going to be the most physical unit on the field,” Kutas said of the offensive line. “I think we’ve really lived up to that in the past couple weeks and just embracing that mindset and style of play. That’s got a lot to do with it.”
Ole Miss will certainly need to pack its run game against one of the better SEC run defenses when it travels to Austin, Texas this weekend. The Rebels are coming off their best run performance of the season, as they totaled over 250 rushing yards against Missouri with two 100-yard rushers.
Rebels’ star running back Kewan Lacy had his best outing of the year in Week 7, logging 122 rushing yards on 16 carries (7.6 YPC). Lacy wasn’t 100 percent, but kept pushing to play in the second half of a game that was mostly out of reach.
That fires up Kutas’ unit.
“It’s like you know you got a guy that’s going to put everything in to run the ball and help us look good, honestly,” Kutas said. “But just knowing that he’s wanting to get back in the game, it speaks levels to the type of guy he is and the type of player he is.”
For Week 8 against Texas, Lacy is eager to have another memorable outing against a team he has ties to.
The hostile environment and the crowd of 100,000 will be hard to overcome. Ole Miss has been there before.
“You just can’t let the environment control how you feel and how you play. It’s going to be a hostile environment, it’s going to be a lot of people, it’s going to be loud, but we know that. So we just gotta be really good with communication up front throughout the whole unit and we’ll be fine.”
“They’re a really talented defense,” Kutas said of the Longhorns’ defense. “They got a lot of first round players. Big dudes, athletic dudes. I think it’ll be a really good matchup. I know we’re just excited to go out and be physical again.”
Kickoff between the Rebels and Longhorns is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
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