HOOVER, Ala. — Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral began barking.
Yelling at the gathered Mississippi State players along the Rebels’ sideline in the 2018 Egg Bowl, he moved away from the scuffle.
As the skirmish persisted around the MSU five-yard line, Corral meandered into the end zone toward Bulldog cornerback Jamal Peters and safety Johnathan Abram.
After momentarily trading words, fists became the currency exchanged between Corral and Peters.
Finally separated after the two flung each other around the field and Corral’s helmet flew off, the Ole Miss signal caller departed from the scuffle.
“I’m a passionate player and especially in that type game or that type of environment,” Corral said. “Between those white lines, I’m not going to back down from anything and I know my teammates aren’t either.”
It’s this intensity — albeit an extreme manifestation of it — and desire to win that continues to drive Corral heading into his redshirt freshman year.
A California kid, Corral’s path to Ole Miss veered and weaved seemingly more than the Pacific Coast highway that intersects his hometown of Long Beach.
Initially committed to nearby University of Southern California, he flipped to Florida during his senior season at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
With turmoil abound in Gainesville following Jim McElwain’s firing and a feeling that Florida was no longer as interested in him, he again changed his pledge — this time to Ole Miss.
“I decided to go with Ole Miss because I visited there and it was a very family oriented spot,” Corral said. “Coach (Matt) Luke was a genuine guy — spoken from the heart — and I’m sure a lot of people could tell that just by having a conversation with the guy.”
In a perfect world, Corral would’ve been reserved to mop-up duty his first year on campus. Incumbent starter Jordan Ta’amu headed into his senior season having thrown for 1,682 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games as a junior.
Ta’amu remained the starter for the first 12 games of the season but was injured in the Egg Bowl — thrusting Corral into action.
“He kind of reminds me of Chad (Kelly) a little bit,” senior right tackle Alex Givens in reference to Ole Miss’ mercurial former quarterback. “He’s kind of got that attitude with him and a little swagger.”
While Corral has earned a reputation as, for better or worse, a fiery competitor, there’s a level of maturity and trust Luke sees in his starting signal caller entering his second season.
For one, he was the lone underclassmen, let alone freshman, selected to represent his university at SEC Media Days in July.
Dressed to the nines, Corral answered questions thoughtfully and candidly –a refreshing look for a quarterback whose reputation has often preceded him over the past nine months.
And though he’s seemingly matured in the time since his inaugural campaign, Corral remains fiery, albeit under more control — a personality his new offensive coordinator, Rich Rodriguez, has honed throughout his own career.
A competitor in his own right, Rodriguez has been known to break headsets out of frustration almost daily during practice. That said, he constantly flips the switch between feisty and controlled.
“They really are the same as it comes to football,” junior linebacker MoMo Sanogo said. “Matt is feisty, Matt is a competitor. And I would say the same about Rich Rod. They want to win. They won’t deal with losing. They want to work hard to get to the win.”
“If you know the way he coaches he’s a perfectionist,” Corral added. “He won’t stop until it’s done right and me personally, I respond well to that. It makes me want to be better.”
Entering 2019, the expectations in Oxford are relatively low. The Rebels limped to a 5-7 record as they finished 1-7 in SEC play and failed to defeat a team ranked better than No. 79 in USA Today’s top-130 power rankings.
Corral reminds himself of the doubters daily. Perched above his locker is the spread of Ole Miss’ opener against Memphis — one that favors the Tigers by seven points.
One year older and more experienced, Corral is undoubtedly more mature. But don’t mistake his newfound maturity for a reduced confidence.
“Everyone calls us inexperienced, everyone calls us young,” Corral said. “But really nobody knows what type of potential we have except the people inside that building.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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