OXFORD – Ole Miss redshirt sophomore center Brycen Sanders knows the Rebels’ offensive line is still a work in progress, despite gaudy statistics from their season-opening beatdown against Georgia State.
No. 20 Ole Miss (1-0) opened its 2025 season with a 63-7 win over the Panthers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels racked up 695 yards of offense – including 295 on the ground, the most for the team since its 2023 matchup against LSU – and redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 341 yards in his first career start.
But beyond the numbers was a subpar performance for Ole Miss’ offensive line, according to Sanders. The Rebels replaced four full-time starters from last year’s group, with the lone returner being senior tackle Diego Pounds.
The Rebels had a 64.3 grade in pass blocking and a 59.8 run-blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus. Among starters, redshirt senior tackle Jayden Williams had the highest individual grade at 62.3. Pounds was at 57, Sanders at 56.7, redshirt sophomore guard PJ Wilkins at 52.7 and redshirt junior guard Patrick Kutas at 48.8. Ole Miss allowed one sack and six tackles-for-loss.
It was the first start of Sanders’ career, a four-star recruit in the 2023 class.
“Running out of that tunnel for the first time as a starter, it was special, and especially after we scored that first touchdown in three plays. Energy was awesome, but I think our performance – my performance specifically – wasn’t up to our level,” Sanders said. “So, even walking off that field, it didn’t honestly even feel like we won, just because I set the bar so high for myself, and I know my teammates do as well.”
The Rebels had several injuries throughout fall practice up front, giving the expected first unit limited time together. Ole Miss was without an expected key contributor against Georgia State, as redshirt sophomore Delano Townsend did not play. Townsend transferred from UAB in the offseason.
“The starting line that we put out there, a lot of them were injured during fall camp, so we didn’t have a lot of reps together,” Sanders said. “But we know what we need to work on, and we have a really good group of guys that just want to get better, and we want to win.”
Ole Miss plays at Kentucky tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC. Each of the last four games between the Rebels and Wildcats have been decided by three points or less.
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