Ole Miss will be without two of its most important offensive players when the Rebels travel to Oklahoma on Saturday.
Head coach Pete Golding announced Monday that starting right guard Patrick Kutas will miss the game after suffering an injury. Running back Kewan Lacy will also remain sidelined as he continues recovering from a shoulder injury suffered against Texas.
“Kutas got banged up pretty good, so we will not have Patrick this week,” Golding said. “There will be some moving parts to that, looking at some guys bumping inside. We’ll be rotating some guys anyway, but he’s the only one right now that we know for sure won’t be available on Saturday.”
Losing Kutas is a significant blow to an Ole Miss offensive line that has already dealt with injuries throughout the season.
The fifth-year senior has been one of the Rebels’ most consistent offensive linemen, earning SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors twice in the past three weeks.
Kutas received his first recognition following Ole Miss’ 31-3 victory over Missouri, when he graded out at 94 percent with 10 pancake blocks. He earned the award again after the Rebels’ 45-15 win over Auburn, grading out at 93 percent with 10 knockdowns.
His absence comes at a particularly difficult time for an Ole Miss offense trying to rebound from its worst performance of the season.
The Rebels managed just seven points in Saturday’s 42-7 loss to Georgia, struggling to establish any offensive rhythm against the Bulldogs.
Golding did not identify who would replace Kutas at right guard, although his comments suggest multiple players could be involved in reshuffling the offensive line.
Meanwhile, Lacy is set to miss his third consecutive game after dislocating his shoulder against Texas on Oct. 24.
Makhi Frazier and Shekai Mills-Knight have handled much of the workload in Lacy’s absence and figure to remain important parts of the rushing attack.
Ole Miss (6-3, 4-3 SEC) will face Oklahoma (5-4, 3-3) on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network.
