Ole Miss Center Brycen Sanders Reflects on First Start, Looks Ahead to SEC Opener Against Kentucky
OXFORD, Miss. — After making his first career start on the offensive line for Ole Miss in Saturday’s win over Georgia State, sophomore center Brycen Sanders addressed the media Tuesday with a mix of humility, high standards, and quiet confidence heading into the Rebels’ SEC opener against Kentucky.
“Running out of that tunnel for the first time as a starter… it was special,” Sanders said, recounting the atmosphere inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. “Especially after scoring that first touchdown in three plays. Energy was awesome.”
But despite the 56 point victory, Sanders admitted he believes the performance—his own and the offensive line’s as whole—left much to be desired.
“I think our performance, and my performance specifically, wasn’t up to our level. So even walking off that field, it honestly didn’t even feel like we won, just because I set the bar so high for myself, and I know my teammates do as well.”
Brycen Sanders
That internal standard is something Sanders believes drives the entire team. He highlighted issues with timing and cohesion on the offensive line, some of which he attributes to injuries limiting fall camp reps.
“For the first time starting, little mistakes I made… a lot of them (teammates) were injured during fall camp, so we didn’t have a lot of reps together,” Sanders explained.
“But we know what we need to work on. We got a really good group of guys that just want to get better—and we just want to win.”
Brycen Sanders
That desire to improve is front and center this week as Ole Miss prepares for a trip to Lexington on Saturday in what will likely be a much greater challenge than their season opener.
“Kentucky’s a really good team, they’re really well-coached,” Sanders said. “But if we do our stuff, we should be good.”
Much of that confidence is built on the dynamic play of teammates like running back Kewan Lacy, who impressed in Week 1 with a bruising, tackle-breaking performance.
“He’s a hell of a running back. He breaks a lot of tackles. He makes us look good even when we mess up a little bit. On and off the field, he’s just a cool guy to hang around.”
Brycen Sanders
Sanders mentioned Lacy’s “relentless effort” and pointed to a memorable goal-line run as a tone-setter.
“You saw on the goal line, he broke four or five tackles,” he said. “He’s trying to do everything it takes just to score and… put the team on his back.”
The Rebels also got a strong debut from starting quarterback Austin Simmons, who, like Sanders, holds himself to high standards.
“Austin’s naturally hard on himself just like I am and a bunch of other players are because we just want the best for us,” Sanders said.
“Our standards are so high, they’re almost unachievable… but he had great energy throughout the game. Even when he made mistakes, he came over to us and was like, ‘we’re going to get it back.’ So, he’s a great leader and he showed that Saturday.”
Brycen on Austin Simmons
As the Rebels prepare for a revenge game against the Wildcats on Saturday, Sanders sees the SEC opener as a chance to make a statement—not just to the rest of the conference, but to themselves.
“I think we just want to fix our mistakes from last week,” he said, “and prove to everyone else the type of team we know we have here.”
Kickoff between Ole Miss and Kentucky is set for Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
Jacob Quaglino
Jacob is a New Orleans, LA native and Ole Miss alumni, Class of 2024 and staff writer with The Rebel Walk. He has been a diehard fan of all Ole Miss sports his entire life, with his earliest Ole Miss sports memory being the Rebels' iconic 2008 upset of then-No. 4 Florida. Among his other favorite Rebel sports memories are storming the field after beating LSU in 2023 and Georgia in 2024, watching the Rebels upset Alabama in back to back years in 2014-15, seeing the women's golf team win the school's first-ever NCAA-recognized national championship in 2021, and watching the Rebel baseball team win the College World Series in 2022. He remains exceedingly hopeful that the Ole Miss Athletics Department's national championship trophy collection will grow in the coming years. Outside of The Rebel Walk, Jacob also works for a local radio news station and has many interests and hobbies, including reading, writing, watching college sports, playing pickleball, and traveling.
