Ole Miss QB Luke Altmyer Bringing the Selflessness, Team-First Mentality He Saw in Corral
OXFORD, Miss. – After Ole Miss won the Egg Bowl last season, Rebels’ quarterback Matt Corral barely had his shoulder pads off before he was asked if he would opt out of the Sugar Bowl matchup with Baylor.
Without hesitation, Corral said the thought to not play never crossed his mind. That kind of selflessness filtered down to his backup, Luke Altmyer.
If Corral was to get injured in the bowl game, he could jeopardize his professional future. If an injury occurred, Altmyer would be asked to play and lose his redshirt season as the true freshman had already participated in the allowed four games.
Corral went down with an injury in the first half against Baylor, and suddenly Altmyer was in the national spotlight. Taking a cue from Corral, the young QB never thought twice.
“Yeah, I had a conversation with coach (Jeff) Lebby, and he told me ‘if Matt goes down, we want you to go play and go win us a Sugar Bowl,’” Altmyer said.
“And I was totally okay with it. I mean, (it was) the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to play in that game. And there was no hesitation for me to play in it, you know? A redshirt is cool. I mean, I still have it, I guess, but I want to play. I really do. Because, I go out here and practice with my brothers every day, and they’re the most important people to me.”
Luke Altmyer on losing his redshirt in Sugar Bowl
Not only was the game Altmyer’s first significant playing time of the season, it was also the biggest Ole Miss bowl game since the Rebels beat Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2016 in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
Thrust suddenly into the Baylor game, the Starkville native completed 15-of-28 for 174 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the 21-7 loss to the Bears. (One of the INTs came as the result of a tipped pass.)
The toughest throw in football, made to look easy by Ole Miss QB Luke Altmyer, former understudy to likely 1st-rounder Matt Corral. pic.twitter.com/tbDQNiGgiM
— David Walker (@DavidWalkerQB) March 30, 2022
“It was a crazy deal,” Altmyer said. “You know, when you go in, you don’t really feel the magnitude of it all. You’re just trying to do your assignment and play hard for your teammates. And looking back, you think about how surreal it was. And I think about it every day, kind of beat myself up over it. I think my biggest flaw as a player and a person is I’m the biggest perfectionist and over-thinker there is, and it’s hard to battle some days, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.”
Luke Altmyer on playing in the Sugar Bowl
The experience of playing on that national stage along with competing in the best conference in college football, has matured Altmyer as a player and a young man.
He has seen that in his time from an early enrollee last year to his second spring practice.
“I think from high school to college, the time that you really put in, and obviously at the college level, I think you’re forced to grow in every single way,” Altmyer said.
“And I think being around Matt and always following him and looking up to him, he helped me in a lot of ways, and you obviously get better as a player. It naturally happens and things like that,” Altmyer added.
Valuable mentorship from Corral
That mentorship Corral provided has made Altmyer emulate him in the future.
“Yeah, I mean, Matt gave me so much, you know, the competitor and player, the teammate — just the workman attitude that he brought every day was so contagious,” Altmyer said.
“The things that he’s told me, I always keep between me and him. But I think in life, there’s truly two types of people. And I think Matt really embodied those two. And those two are, I think in life, people really seek to understand. And I think some people are really understood. And I think he really had both of those qualities when he walked in the room, you know he was understood. He commanded the room. He commanded the ball on the field. He commanded a team. You know but He was always wanting to understand more about himself, the game, his teammates, about life itself. And it was truly inspiring.”
Luke Altmyer on Matt Corral
Altmyer will need to heed to that inspiration as he competes with USC transfer Jaxson Dart for the starting quarterback job. But that kind of competition is something that Almyer enjoys.
“Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun,” Altmyer said. “Like I said, when spring started, we’ve been doing a whole lot, even before spring started, with all 11 guys, with the team setting. So, when we started it was like practice nine for us. And with Dart we’ve become really fast friends. He’s a great guy, obviously a great player and competitor, but we help each other out and I root for him when he’s in and you know, likewise other way around.”
That competition will serve the Rebels well in the fall.
Spring training continues and will culminate with the Grove Bowl on April 23.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
