Ole Miss right guard Patrick Kutas met with reporters Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s trip to No. 19 Texas, and he started where the Rebels’ offensive line has been living lately: being the most physical group on the field. Ole Miss ran for 257 yards against Missouri and has allowed 0.83 sacks a game, the fewest in the SEC.
We make an emphasis every week that we’re going to be the most physical unit on the field. I think we’ve really lived up to that the past couple weeks and just embracing that mindset and that style of play.
Patrick Kutas
Against Missouri, Makhi Frazier ran for 101 yards on 15 carries and Kewan Lacy ran for 122 on 16, the first time two Rebels topped 100 in the same game since Arkansas in 2022, according to Ole Miss Athletics. Missouri finished with 39 rushing yards.
“Big dudes, athletic dudes”
With Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons reportedly unlikely to play Saturday, Kutas was asked about the rest of the Longhorns’ defense. He was not taking it lightly.
“They’re a really talented defense,” Kutas said. “You know, they got a lot of versatile players. Big dudes, athletic dudes. I think it’ll be a really good matchup, and I know we’re just excited to go out and be physical again.”
Ole Miss has been on the road in a big SEC environment once already this season, at Florida. Kutas said the lesson is not to let a crowd of 100,000 set the tone. “You just can’t let the environment control how you feel and how you play,” he said. “It’s going to be loud. But we know that. So we just got to be really good with communication up front and throughout the whole unit, and we’ll be fine.”
“I play right guard, but I think like a center”
Kutas slid over to center for a stretch against Missouri, his first game action there since his sophomore year. He said he gets center reps in spring ball, fall camp and occasionally during game weeks. “It was fun. It was good to get a little switch-up, kind of knock some cobwebs off,” he said.
The hard part, he said, was not the snap. It was the calls. “Probably more the mental. You know, you kind of take Bryson for granted when he’s out there just because he’s dialing up everything, all the calls. And then you get thrown in and it’s like, oh, wow, he’s doing a lot of the work.”
Kutas said he made the line calls himself once he moved over, and that he keeps track of them even at guard. “I think with me it’s like I play right guard, but I think like a center. 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.”
He also credited the linemen who moved around him. Connor Howes “has kind of been a very versatile piece for us, right or left tackle, can play guard,” Kutas said, and Troy, an “older guy, very experienced,” filled in where he was needed.
“He’s all maxed out in those areas”
Kutas sees Will Echoles every day in practice, and with Echoles showing up near the top of some NFL mock drafts, he was asked what makes him so hard to handle.
“He is a very large human that moves very fast, and he is very strong, and he’s very smart,” Kutas said. “So he’s kind of like all of the top key attributes you need. He’s all maxed out in those areas. So he’s pretty tough to block.”
Off the field, Kutas said, Echoles fits right in with the big guys. “He’s kind of like an offensive lineman, honestly. Like, he gets along with everybody. Super chill, calm dude.”
“It speaks levels to the type of guy he is”
Lacy missed the second quarter against Missouri, came back and finished with his best game of the season. Kutas said the line notices that. “Oh, 100%. 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. But just knowing that he’s wanting to get back in the game, like, it just speaks levels to the type of guy he is and the type of player he is.”
Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1 SEC) plays at Texas on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC. Hotty Toddy 🦈
Quotes from Patrick Kutas’s Texas week media availability on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Photo: Trinidad Chambliss celebrates a fourth-quarter touchdown with Patrick Kutas against LSU on Sept. 19. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images