Ole Miss junior quarterback Zack Stoudt will take the reins for the Rebels against No. 1 LSU this weekend after a deluge of mid-week suspensions.
Stoudt will start in place of suspended quarterback Randall Mackey, who will sit thanks to a “violation of team rules.”
Stoudt, the son of former NFL quarterback Cliff Stoudt, said despite the Rebels’ long odds at victory Saturday, he’ll play within himself and try to minimize mistakes.
“I’m just going to stick to my fundamentals and not force anything,” Stoudt said. “I’ll just be loose and relaxed.”
The Dublin, Ohio, native said he calls his dad, a two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, for advice about how to be a successful quarterback.
“He gives me an advantage because I can call him and talk to him about the game,” Stoudt said. “He can see things on the field that the average parent obviously doesn’t.”
Stoudt started his college football career at Louisville under then-head coach and current LSU quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe.
“I was very young when I was with him,” Stoudt said. “I think some of the things he said to me at the time went in one ear and out the other, but now that I’m getting older, the things that he says are coming into play.”
Stoudt redshirted as a freshman at Louisville and didn’t play the following season.
Kragthorpe left Louisville before the 2010 season, prompting Stoudt to transfer to Iowa Western Community College for an opportunity to start regularly.
“When [Kragthorpe] got let go and Charlie Strong came in as a head coach, I decided to leave and go to a JUCO so I could get a year of playing after sitting out for two years,” Stoudt said.
Stoudt took advantage of his opportunity to play and led the Iowa Western CC Reivers to a 9-2 record and a No. 6 national ranking in 2010.
“[JUCO] was obviously a lot different, but that school did wonderful things for me and I’m so happy that I went there,” Stoudt said. “It got me re-recruited and put into the best conference in the country.”
Stoudt was recruited by multiple Division I schools before he eventually selected Ole Miss.
“I had no idea where I was going to end up. I was just very fortunate,” Stoudt said.
In a preseason news conference, Nutt expressed excitement to have Stoudt on his roster and praised his work on and off the field.
“He is going to class and trying to win his teammates over with leadership and work ethic,” Nutt said. “He has done everything we have asked of him.”
Nutt praised his quarterback’s composure, attributing Stoudt’s maturity to his upbringing and the year he spent playing in junior college.
“Zack comes from a great family,” Nutt said. “He’s a little older, and you can tell he has had a few snaps coming from a junior college. He doesn’t get rattled, and he knows where to go with the ball.”
Stoudt played in the Rebels’ first four games and in last weekend’s 27-7 loss to Louisiana Tech. On the season, Stoudt has completed nearly 50 percent of his passes for 542 yards, including two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
LSU coach Les Miles said despite facing another backup quarterback for the fourth time this season, the Tigers aren’t overlooking Stoudt as a threat to put points on the board for the Rebels.
“He can throw it,” Miles said. “We’ll look forward to that matchup.”
 
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Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]