Column: Is Luke Altmyer Ole Miss’ QB Answer in 2022?

Luke Altmyer showed solid talent on Saturday night, but he also showed growing pains often experienced by a young quarterback. Can he lead the Rebels in 2022?

As the clock wound towards zero, Ole Miss fans began to come to grips with the whirlwind of emotions they had experienced over the last three hours.

What began as a literal “Party in the Big Easy,” as dubbed by the football team’s marketing staff, had ended in heartbreak. Losing the game was one thing. Losing your star quarterback less than a quarter into the loss was another.

Matt Corral, long the Heisman favorite in the 2021 season, fell out of favor with the voters as he and those around him began to succumb to injuries. It was on Oct. 16 against Tennessee, a game that will forever be remembered by its postgame, trash-throwing antics, that Corral first began showing signs of wear.

He was understandably a large part of the offense, both through the air and on the ground. That takes a toll on the body of any athlete.

Against Auburn two weeks later, Ole Miss survived another scare with Corral even if it didn’t come out on the winning end of the scoreboard. The Rebel quarterback was taken into the locker room for evaluation in the first half, emerged and reentered the game.

From that point on, it seemed like smooth sailing. Ole Miss won four-straight games to close out the 2021 season, earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl behind a program-high 10 regular season wins and were finally back to a place fans could be proud of.

Then, New Year’s Day happened.

Corral goes down, and even though the Rebel defense and freshman quarterback Luke Altmyer were valiant in their efforts, the loss of their leader was likely too much to overcome in the end.

Sometimes, that happens in sports. It’s part of the game, regardless of how painful, both physically and emotionally, it may be. This isn’t a column about high-profile draft picks choosing whether or not to opt-out of bowl games. There is plenty of coverage on that front these days.

This is, however, a column about what Ole Miss should do next.

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Flashback to Thanksgiving night of 2018.

Ole Miss is in a mire pit of NCAA violations and a bowl ban. To top it all off, its in-state rival Mississippi State is having no difficulty taking the Golden Egg Trophy back to Starkville. Jordan Ta’amu, the Rebels’ starting quarterback, is injured, so in trots a young, fiery California gunslinger by the name of Matt Corral.

The Egg Bowl has always been known for its ferocity, but that night, it boiled over.

Corral was involved in a bench-clearing brawl against the Bulldogs that resulted in unsportsmanlike conduct penalties being levied against every player on both teams, something never-before-seen in collegiate athletics.

Ole Miss lost that game 35-3, but to Rebel fans, it likely felt much worse.

After the game, a video of Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke speaking to a visibly-emotional Corral surfaced with Luke saying, “Remember this moment, and let it fuel you” as Mississippi State players celebrated with the Golden Egg Trophy and planted a maroon flag at midfield.

It was evident that Luke was willing to push the proverbial chips to the center of the table regarding Corral being Ole Miss’ quarterback of the future.

Well, at least for a while.

Luke’s tenure in Oxford was possibly doomed from the start, given the situation he walked into. The 2019 season saw an erratic Matt Corral benched early in the season in favor of a newfound, running spark plug by the name of John Rhys Plumlee. 

Plumlee didn’t have the same arm talent as Corral, but he was exciting to watch on the field, and he immediately became a fan favorite.

Just what the doctor ordered for Luke & Company, it would seem, but that didn’t last long. Ole Miss finished that season 4-8 after another unceremonious exit in the Egg Bowl, and Luke and his staff were out of a job.

The quarterback controversy that never really ended was back at the top of the docket.

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You likely know the rest of the story.

Lane Kiffin is hired, Corral wins back the starting job and leads Ole Miss to its best regular season in the modern era.

That begs the question: why rehash a story about Corral that is already widely known?

Simply this: Ole Miss is now having to replace him.

Luke Altmyer showed flashes of an insane amount of talent on New Year’s Day in Corral’s stead. He also showed flashes of a true freshman quarterback playing against one of the nation’s best defenses on one of college football’s biggest stages. Two interceptions, one that was a pick six, is nothing to write home about, but the plays he did make and the confidence he showed might just be.

Ole Miss has long been tied to transfer portal quarterbacks since it was evident that Corral’s next football season would be spent as a professional. Names like Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix, both of whom committed to play elsewhere for the 2022 season, were hot names around Oxford in December.

Now, with those options having fallen through, what’s next? Keep scouring the portal for a quick-fix solution? Or stick with what you have in Altmyer?

Lane Kiffin is known for developing quarterbacks, and even though his offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has departed, his replacement, Charlie Weis Jr., has worked with Kiffin at previous stops. There shouldn’t be much doubt that Kiffin can find quarterback talent and make it work in an offensive system given his track record.

Let’s be honest here, too—another Matt Corral isn’t walking through the door anytime soon. Names in the transfer portal, no matter how talented, will not have the exact same skill set as Corral or be as familiar with Kiffin and Weis’ system. If Altmyer is the choice, his development into a possible star won’t happen overnight, either.

That’s simply not how 99 percent of quarterback development works.

Still, can a full off-season as “QB1” be what Altmyer needs to take the next step and lead Ole Miss in 2022? There will be some who are anxious given that Altmyer didn’t look as poised and comfortable as Corral in the Sugar Bowl, but did you expect any different?

It’s obvious that Altmyer has talent, and the right amount of development could make that talent shine. That paired with the gamble that is often found in the transfer portal or any “quick-fix” endeavor could mean that Altmyer gets his chance sooner rather than later.

It’s not impossible for a young, wide eyed quarterback to turn into something special. Just ask Matt Corral. The question is: could Luke Altmyer be next?

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