Rebels' Corral named Conerly Trophy winner

Dec. 1—JACKSON — Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral was named the winner of the 2021 C Spire Conerly Trophy on Tuesday night, as Mississippi's most outstanding college football player.

Named after College Football Hall of Famer and Ole Miss legend Charlie Conerly, the trophy was first conferred in 1996. The Conerly Trophy has now been awarded to an Ole Miss player 10 times, the most for any school.

The junior from Ventura, California, has completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,339 yards and 20 touchdowns, with just two interceptions. Corral also has 597 yards on the ground with 11 Tds.

Corral follows Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore, who won the Trophy last year.

Ole Miss players have won the award four times in the last six years.

Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers and Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders were among the 10 finalists from teams of all levels of competition.

Corral, a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, is the only player in the FBS with more than 3,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing this season.

The 11 rushing TDs are the third-most ever by an Ole Miss quarterback in a single season. He ranks ninth in the FBS in total offense (327.7). He is one of just three quarterbacks nationally to have thrown for at least 20 touchdowns and run for 11 or more TDs. He's just the third Ole Miss QB in program history to tally 20 passing TDs in back-to-back seasons.

Past Ole Miss winners include: Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (1999), Eli Manning (2001, 2003), Patrick Willis (2006), Bo Wallace (2012), Evan Engram (2016), A.J. Brown (2017) and Elijah Moore (2021).

PARRISH ALFORD is the college sports editor and columnist for the Daily Journal. Contact him at parrish.alford@journalinc.com.