Ole Miss QB Matt Corral ascends to No. 1 in Nation in Key Quarterback Metric

Quarterback Matt Corral of Ole Miss and Mac Jones of Alabama are the NCAA’s best this week in Total QBR

As I predicted during the Ole Miss-Kentucky game (you’ll have to take my word for it), Rebels quarterback Matt Corral is No. 1 this week in the Holy Grail of quarterback ratings — ESPN’s Total QBR.

Even more impressive, Corral is also No. 1 for the season, ahead of the likes of names such as Mac Jones, Kyle Trask (Florida), and Trevor Lawrence (Clemson).

And that’s not just No. 1 in the SEC; it’s first in the entire country for both the week and the overall season.

Here’s the Weekly Total QBR for this past Saturday’s games:

Matt Corral sits atop the Week’s Total QBR after leading the Rebels to a 42-41 OT win over Kentucky.

Yes, there’s Corral sitting at No. 1 for the week with a 95.8 Total QBR. Take it from this former QB, that’s outstanding.

QB Battle Extraordinnaire coming up at the Vaught

As I also predicted, the top two QBR’s in college football will be on display this Saturday as the week’s No. 2 quarterback, Mac Jones, squares off against Corral in a matchup for the ages.

Seriously, if you’re any kind of a quarterback-play connoisseur, this is must-see TV.

Jones’ Crimson Tide steamrolled a Top-15 Aggie football team, 52-24, while Corral’s Rebels were slugging it out with the touchdown favorites from Kentucky in Lexington.

While Corral was hitting on all cylinders, the Rebel defense was finding its footing. The combination worked long enough for Ole Miss to pull off a rather improbable, and frankly, uncharacteristic as of late, victory. Corral finished 24-29 for 320 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added 51 yards on the ground.

After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin commented on Corral’s play. “I thought he played better today than last week. Last week, guys were open. He had to make a lot of plays (today) against a rush and we weren’t protecting him as well,” Kiffin explained.

Saying Corral played better than last week is a compliment, as the quarterback’s stat line against the Gators was excellent: 22-31 for 395 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and another 50 yards on the ground. (Here’s a look at his performance against the Gators in our QB Film Room article.)

Matt Corral had himself a ball game 👀

The win over Kentucky gives @Lane_Kiffin his first win at Ole Miss #HottyToddy #RebelNation pic.twitter.com/degoAG790j

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) October 3, 2020

As I watched the overtime action, I called the final play, saying: “We’ve got to get No. 8 the ball out in the flat.” Honest to God, I said it. And that’s exactly what the Rebels did, for the winner.

I only saw the highlights of the Alabama-A&M game, but I’ve watched Jones play and he has every bit of the talent of Tua Tagovailoa. He’ll sit back there and pick a defense apart with the receivers he has.

Mac Jones has three career pass TDs of 85+ yards.

That's the most by any QB in @AlabamaFTBL history. pic.twitter.com/GM61io9l9D

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 3, 2020

It is definitely worth adding that Ole Miss is “Wide Receiver U” for a reason, and those guys are a huge part of a quarterback’s QBR success and winning record.

I was in the Vaught in 2014 when the Rebels tore down the goal post after beating Alabama — and so was Lane Kiffin. He knows he’s got the firepower–if only his manpower can hold up defensively, as it fortunately did for a long stretch in the Kentucky game.

It’s not a pipe dream, beating Alabama. We’ve all seen it unfold before, both in Oxford and in Tuscaloosa in 2015. But unlike those outstanding, unbelievable games, this game features literally the Top QBs in America.

Here’s the overall season-long Total QBR from ESPN:

Matt Corral is the nation’s best overall quarterback for the season as seen in the ESPN Total QBR metric. Mac Jones is No. 3 in the country.

This coming weekend, Nick Saban will be looking to beat yet another former assistant in Lane Kiffin, and both coaches will bring two of the nation’s best quarterbacks with them to the battle.

Hotty Toddy!

David Walker

David is the consummate true-freshman quarterback, first pioneering the position only a year after college freshmen were given varsity eligibility by the NCAA in 1972. In 1973, the left-handed all-state gunslinger from Sulphur, Louisiana started for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned the All-Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year award as selected by the league’s coaches. David is the first college quarterback ever awarded Freshman of the Year in the NCAA. He was only 17, and still holds the NCAA record as the youngest starting quarterback in college football history. He wore No. 8 at A&M in honor of one of his football heroes, Archie Manning.

In becoming the winningest quarterback ever at A&M, David was converted from a dual-threat QB to a triple option trailblazer. The two-time team captain led three record-breaking offenses that changed the direction of football at A&M forever, establishing once and for all the winning tradition that the Aggies had so-long desired.

As a high school head coach in Houston in the late ‘80s, David stationed his quarterback in the shotgun formation, having him reading defenses and throwing hot routes at a time when such offensive schemes were frowned upon by traditional fans and coaches. One of his quarterbacks tossed 57 passes in a single game, which stood as the all-time Greater Houston Area record for many years. 

As you can tell from his bona fides, David is extremely qualified as our expert on all things Quarterback at Ole Miss. Enjoy his exclusive analysis only here at The Rebel Walk!