Beleaguered offensive lineman Patrick Kutas made his debut Saturday for Arkansas at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville after missing the first seven games of the season because of a back injury.
Whether it was Mississippi State’s porous defense or in part a reflection of Kutas’ immediate impact, the Razorbacks ran for a season-high 359 yards against the Bulldogs and piled up 58 points, which was the most they scored on a Power Four team this season. That was also the most Mississippi State had given up all year, which includes tilts with Texas, Georgia and Texas A&M.
The 6-foot-5, 313-pounder played 46 snaps at left guard while splitting time with Keyshawn Blackstock on Saturday. As a true junior, he can appear in three more regular-season games and still redshirt, maintaining this year of eligibility. The only problem? Arkansas has four games left.
On Monday, Sam Pittman was asked by our own Andrew Hutchinson about the plan for him going forward:
“I have a plan to play him four games,” Pittman said. “So we’re going to try and play him on Saturday (against Ole Miss), and that’ll be two and then we’ll try to figure that out.”
Arkansas vs Ole Miss: Old-Fashioned Hatred
Ask any Arkansas fan who their most hated team in the SEC is, and you’ll get a wide variety of answers.
Old-timers would most likely answer Texas (especially now that the Longhorns are in the league with Arkansas again) while younger fans would definitely say LSU, Ole Miss or even Texas A&M. Some might even say Missouri.
For Patrick Kutas, the next game on the schedule gives him a little extra juice.
Growing up in the Memphis area just 85 miles from Oxford, he was around Ole Miss football fans constantly and it made hating them an easy decision while he prepped at Christian Brothers High School, blossoming into a four-star prospect.
“I don’t like Ole Miss,” Kutas said on the BossHog Podcast back in the spring on the now defunct Natty State Sports network, which has since rebranded as Inside Arkansas. “You know how you’re raised to like a school? Well, I was raised to not like Ole Miss.”
Kutas also mentioned on the podcast he was on that he was heavily recruited by Illinois and Oregon. He said that the Illinois campus was beautiful, and that Oregon was a really cool place to visit, but that it was too far away to truly consider.
Bret Bielema pulled out all the stops, and Kutas said it was a ‘game-time decision’ on whether or not to choose the Illini over the Razorbacks.
“Arkansas just felt like home,” Kutas said. “Now that I’m four hours from my family, it makes all the difference in the world. Plus they can come in and see me whenever they want.”
Kutas Adjusts to New Roles
Patrick Kutas came in for the 2022 season and saw action primarily on special teams. He was a part of the 42-27 victory that clinched a bowl bid for Arkansas against the Rebels two years ago, and then in 2023 had to be flexible as he switched from guard to tackle to even playing center as injuries piled up and the offensive line struggled, along with a change at coordinator eight games in.
He played defensive line in high school, so it shows his versatility and a positive attitude to not get flustered when things maybe didn’t go his way or the team needed help elsewhere.
The 20-year-old definitely wants to get on the field Saturday against the Rebels, but Pittman and Kutas had to get on the same page before he returned to action.
“The deal that we talked about was that he wanted to redshirt,” Pittman said. “And I said, ‘Hey, now, we ain’t trying to redshirt you for somebody else.’ He said, ‘No, coach, I would never. I’m a Hog, I want to be here.’”
Pittman went on to mention how Kutas kind of got lost in the shuffle his freshman year on special teams, but that this would be the way of recouping that lost productivity on the offensive line.
If he plays Saturday, he can play twice more after that. Prevailing wisdom might lead one to believe that Pittman would prefer to have him suited up for Texas and Missouri, and elect to have him sit out against Louisiana Tech, a game the Razorbacks should be heavily favored in and should win easily, theoretically.
Interestingly, Joshua Braun was also on the podcast with Kutas – along with walk-on lineman Brooks Edmonson – and has a very similar story to Kutas in that he grew up hating Georgia instead of Ole Miss because both of his older brothers played for Georgia Tech.
That hatred didn’t impact his recruitment, though. Braun’s top options ended up coming down to Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The Gamecocks eventually pulled their offer because they had maxed out their offensive line class, so he committed to Pittman, who was the OL coach for the Bulldogs at the time. Of course, Braun ended up signing with Florida after Pittman left for Fayetteville.
Second Chance at Revenge for Hogs
If you kept your television on long enough after Arkansas’ 33-point victory over the Bulldogs, you might have caught this clip:
That is Joshua Braun and Patrick Kutas both praying with Taylen Green following the game. Green has a Bible verse written in Sharpie on his turf tape on his left arm every contest, so it’s pretty cool to see players building camaraderie with one another in that manner, especially because they weren’t doing it to bring attention to themselves.
Green was unable to pull out a victory in the game he most wanted to win prior to the season two weeks ago (LSU because of high school rivalry with Garrett Nussmeier), but maybe Kutas will get a victory over the team he grew up despising, especially after falling to them last year in Oxford in a heartbreaker where he made his first ever start at center.
Ole Miss hasn’t won in Fayetteville since 2008, so Kutas is hoping for a rude awakening for Lane Kiffin’s bunch on Saturday morning.
It may end up being the Lane Train needing to get in the prayer line if Kutas and a healthy Green keep upping their level of play from last week’s game against Ole Miss’ archrival.
***
Watch the full BossHog Podcast with Patrick Kutas here:
***
More coverage of Arkansas football and Arkansas vs Ole Miss from BoAS…
