By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Ole Miss junior quarterback Matt Corral returns as one of the best signal-callers to the gridiron for the 2021 season.
On Tuesday, Corral meet with the media at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama.
Last season, Corral finished No. 5 in the FBS in passing yards per game (333.7), No. 7 in passing TDs (29), No. 9 in passing efficiency (177.6) and No. 11 in passing yards per completion (14.5).
Corral comes in to this season as one of the highly talented quarterbacks in the league that is compared to others in the SEC.
“(Across the league) there is never a big drop off like people would say there is,” Corral said. “I feel like the level is good every year. We are Division 1 athletes it’s not like we just got here. We are all here for a reason and the competition is at a high level.”
The offense has a buzz coming into the season after what the Rebels accomplished in 2020 under head coach Lane Kiffin in his first year at the helm in Oxford.
“Not just in myself,” Corral said. “The people around me have more confidence in their selves than they didn’t have last year. Last year, was us not knowing what we have and just going in there and trying our best to now we know what we have and having a standard this has got to get done.”
Corral knows this season there will be expectations on him to do great. He is focused on winning.
“I’m not really focused on myself,” Corral said. “I’m more worried about the team. As long as I take care of the team’s needs my wants and the team’s wants will fall into place.”
Having Kiffin as the head coach has added a dynamic to the offense.
“He knows how to spread the ball around,” Corral said. “Knows how to use the matchups around them. Like last year, specifically against South Carolina JC Horn, a great corner (Kiffin) had a way of putting Elijah (Moore) in the right spots of a mismatch somehow some way and utilizing it.”
Last season, the Rebels didn’t have the Walk of Champions through the Grove prior to the game and the Vaught was not full to capacity.
“I am very excited (to have everything back normal),” Corral said. “The Walk of Champions is something that I missed. The energy of all of the Ole Miss fans showing us love prior to the games. It’s a feeling that I can’t explain you have to experience it.
Corral and the Rebels kick off the 2021 season against the Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 6 in Atlanta, Georgia.
