Matt Corral keeps troops focused during crazy delay
Oct. 17—KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — As crazy as things got at the end of Ole Miss' 31-26 thrilling win over Tennessee, redshirt junior quarterback Matt Corral made sure his teammates stayed focused.
After a controversial call that left the Volunteers a yard short of what would have been a game-changing first down in the fourth quarter, Tennessee fans began throwing trash on the field in the direction of Ole Miss players and coaches. The game was delayed for almost 30 minutes as security sorted things out.
Corral, who had left the game on the previous Ole Miss drive after injuring his ankle, needed his teammates to realize the game wasn't over yet. So Corral did what he always does — he rallied the troops.
"Keeping the main thing the main thing. You started to hear a little chatter, and then just talk about random stuff (what they were doing) after the game, and that kind of set me off," Corral said. "So I brought them back, and then we just started warming up."
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Corral missed just one play and came back for the Rebels' final drive of the game.
"I just rolled up my ankle. It's all good though. Just a little stinger. It went, like, dead for a second ... But yeah, I was good after."
Springer returns
Senior safety Jake Springer played in his first game since the opener against Louisville. He finished with 11 tackles and was all over the field, making his impact felt from the first possession of the game.
»Wild, trash-filled finish: Ole Miss wins in Knoxville for first time since 1983 in wild
"I think Jake Springer makes a difference. I think that was pretty obvious throughout the game," Kiffin said. "He makes a difference, and we didn't give up many big plays."
Key Drive
For the second game in a row, Ole Miss went down to the wire. Tennessee failed to convert on a fourth-and-24 late in the fourth but got the ball back one final time with less than 30 seconds to play. Volunteers' quarterback Hendon Hooker was injured on the drive, which threw Joe Milton III into the game. Tennessee got the ball down to the 20-yard-line, and Milton had a pass go through the hands of a receiver in the end zone. Milton then scrambled on the last play of the game and ran out of bounds as time expired.
Key Number — 233
Corral threw his first interception of the season in the fourth quarter. He went 233 pass attempts without an interception, the fifth-longest streak in SEC history and longest in Ole Miss history.
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Next Game
The Rebels host LSU on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
Quotable
"I thanked our players. I didn't say a thing all week. This game is not about me, and it's still not about me. But I did thank our players for coming through, because it does feel a lot better walking off the field winning getting told all those things that they say versus losing." — Lane Kiffin, on the emotions of returning to Knoxville as a head coach.
Rebel Ramblings
Ole Miss ran a record 101 offensive plays Saturday ... Corral has thrown a touchdown in 18-straight games, the second-longest streak in school history behind Chad Kelly (22) ... Junior Dannis Jackson caught his first-career touchdown pass ... Junior running back Snoop Conner scored two touchdowns and now sits tied for fourth in career rushing scores (22).
