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Why Ole Miss QBs Matt Corral, John Rhys Plumlee believe they've gotten better

Nick Suss
Mississippi Clarion Ledger

OXFORD — Matt Corral wants to make one thing clear.

"I was never gonna leave," the Ole Miss  sophomore quarterback said Wednesday. "As far as transferring, was it ever in mind? Of course it was on my mind. But I didn't ever want to deal with that extra stuff. I knew what I had in front of me."

Last season was peculiar in the Ole Miss quarterback room. Corral started the first four games before an injury forced him out against Cal. Freshman John Rhys Plumlee started the next eight games, but Corral rotated in in the final six games.

Corral finished the season as Ole Miss' leading passer in every significant statistic. Plumlee showed his star qualities as a runner, rushing for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns to lead the Rebels.

Heading into 2020, Corral and Plumlee are back. New coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby have said Corral and Plumlee are splitting reps with the first-team offense at the start of camp and nobody is ready to crown a starting quarterback yet. 

Based on what Corral and Plumlee said in sessions with the media Wednesday, Kiffin and Lebby aren't choosing between the same quarterbacks former coach Matt Luke and coordinator Rich Rodriguez rotated last season.

More:Here's everything Lane Kiffin said after Ole Miss' first fall practice on Monday

Areas of growth

Plumlee was not a consistent passer last season. He completed 52.7% of his passes and averaged 6.1 yards per pass attempt.  Among SEC quarterbacks who attempted at least 150 passes, only one averaged fewer yards per pass attempt and none had a worse completion percentage.

The Hattiesburg native is confident he's found ways to become a better passer this offseason.

"With coach Lebby and the new staff coming in, one of the big things they wanted to do was clean up our footwork as quarterbacks," Plumlee said. "That in itself has helped me a lot with timing, being on time for routes, being able to see the whole picture a lot better instead of sometimes I'd use my legs when I needed to sit in there."

Plumlee said his ability "isn't going anywhere." He's still confident he can be as electric as he was last year. But Plumlee wants to play better inside the pocket and prove he isn't a one-dimensional player.

More:Here's how Ole Miss' 2020 schedule allows Lane Kiffin to reverse years of Rebel woes

Corral was a better passer than Plumlee last season, but he didn't exactly set the SEC ablaze. Corral's 7.7 yards per pass attempt was the fifth-best among SEC passers with 150 or more pass attempts, but his passer rating ranked 10th in that group of 15 players.

To be more productive this year, Corral said everything needs to start with mentality.

"I wasn't successful last year," Corral said. "Why? That's what I was asking myself: what wasn't working and what did I do wrong? It all came down to my work ethic there. It takes a lot of sacrifices when you realize you've got to do what you've got to do. It's an investment for what you want in the future. I think I've taken a big leap from last year to this year as far as that goes."

Grading the competition

Here's another thing Corral wants to make clear: Ole Miss doesn't have a competition to pick a starting quarterback. This is a competition to see how much better he and Plumlee can get.

Ole Miss Football held day one of its 2020 fall camp on August 17th, 2020 in Oxford, MS.

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

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Corral and Plumlee have been getting together every morning around 5:30 a.m. to watch film. Three days into camp, the entire quarterback room is in on the early-morning fun.

"With this new offense, there's a lot that's on our plate," Plumlee said. "As quarterbacks, you want to know everybody's role and everybody's job. We decided to take it upon ourselves to come in a little bit earlier, whether it's to watch some film on defenses or on our scheme that we're running."

Corral said one major difference about this year's Ole Miss offense is "knowing the why." Corral said Kiffin and Lebby have done a good job of explaining not just how and where to read defenses, but why those reads are necessary.

That extra layer of explanation makes it easier for quarterbacks to understand the scheme fully. 

"It's about throwing, seeing the whole picture, seeing the defense, having the answers when a defense presents you something," Plumlee added. "A lot of it has done with not really seeing the defense as much, but knowing our offense enough that when the defense does present something I know where our answers are as a whole."

Equipped with a deeper understanding of what to do and with new skills in their tool belts, Plumlee and Corral both believe they're poised for better 2020 seasons. Whether those come with Corral starting, Plumlee starting or some combination, the passers are prepared to do what's asked of them.

"It's a really good feeling starting fresh, having a new mindset, clean slate," Corral said. "Starting from the beginning again and just working our way up. The coaches have done a great job of breaking us down and building us up as a unit. Just bringing in all the moving parts and putting it together."
