Matt Corral Presents Early Challenge for Louisville Secondary

The Ole Miss quarterback and Heisman Trophy dark horse will be a tall task to handle for the Cardinals’ defensive backs right out of the gates.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When you think about head coach Lane Kiffin and the offense he runs with Ole Miss, the first thing people usually bring up is how blazing fast they operate. It's hard not to, as the Rebels are coming off of a 2020 season in which they ran the fourth-most plays (81.6) in all of FBS.

Spearheading a spread offense that runs at that pace is fine and dandy, but unless you have someone under center that can actually run the system with ease, the efficiency of it plummets dramatically. Fortunately for Ole Miss (or unfortunately for Louisville), they have just that.

In just his first season as the full-time starter, in Kiffin's first season with the Rebels, quarterback Matt Corral put the SEC on notice. Starting all 10 games, he completed 70.9 percent of his passes for 3,337 yards and 29 touchdowns - marks that all ranked in the top seven nationally.

"He can make all the throws, he can throw a tight window, and he throws a great deep ball, in addition to being very accurate," Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He is one of the better quarterbacks in the country, and it's why he's been mentioned up for Heisman (Trophy) recognition, because he makes it all go."

Part of what makes Corral such an elite passer, like Satterfield mentioned, is that he is one of the best deep ball throwers in college football. He can not only throw the ball over 60 yards through the air, but has an incredibly quick release to go with it.

But there's something else that Corral does exceedingly well that doesn't immediately jump off the page when watching. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound redshirt junior is adept at deceiving defensive backs with his eyes, and 'seeing' receivers open.

"He does a great job on looking the DB's off," Louisville defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. "He's so quick to come back to his second or third read, that it's like-oh my god, you guys got to make sure you're not out of position with your eyes. He does a great job with that."

Like Louisville, Ole Miss is heading into the 2021 season without their top two pass-catching targets from last season. Wide receiver Elijah Moore and tight end Kenny Yeboah, who both departed for the NFL, combined for 1,717 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2020.

But considering the amount of success Corral had in just his first year as the full time starter, in the first year under a new head coach, it's easy to understand why he is a Heisman Trophy dark horse. The Rebels also have some solid returning receivers in Dontario Drummond, Jonathan Mingo and Braylon Sanders.

Throw in the fact that Louisville has so many new scholarship defensive backs heading into 2021 - seven to be exact - facing Corral in week one will be a tall task for the back end. Even for a secondary that allowed just 189.2 passing yards per game in 2020 - a mark that ranked 17th in FBS.

While the Cardinals as a team have been officially game planning for the Rebels for just a few days now, several members of the defense have been watching film on Ole Miss for quite some time. That, combined with preparing for the speed of the game in practice, they feel good about their chances against the lauded Rebels passing attack.

"As a back seven and just individually, and with groups and teammates, we've been watching film on them all the time now," safety Kenderick Duncan said. "We take that time we've had to watch film on our own to try to understand their tendencies and build a connection, because we're gonna be the ones out there playing with each other."

Kickoff against Ole Miss in the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, down at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 6 at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN.

(Photo of Matt Corral: Kim Klement - USA TODAY Sports, Kenderick Duncan- University of Louisville Athletics)

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