You Don't Know Matty: The Story of Matt Corral

Chris Dailey

Founder, The Sports Court

    Matt ‘Matty Heisman’ Corral is cooking it up for the 13th ranked Ole Miss Rebels. Corral, who is a senior from Ventura, California, has made his presence well known in the world of college football. As the season goes along, Corral impresses more and more each week, and the once question-mark of a collegiate recruit is now a Heisman candidate.

    However, not many people know the true story of the Heisman frontrunner. 

    Born in Ventura, California, Matt Corral has had a chip on his shoulder from day one. Coming from modest beginnings, Corral left his original high school, Oaks Christian School. While in the process of leaving the school, Corral called out the school for being filled with ‘rich kids who will never have to work a day in their lives.” Before unenrolling from Oaks Christian, Corral got into a physical altercation with the son of none other than the great one himself, Wayne Gretzky.

    It was heading into his senior year in which Corral left Oaks Christian. When Corral transferred before his senior year, it raised the question, “who is Matt Corral?”. After all, why would Corral transfer from a school that has pumped out D1 QBS including Jimmy Clausen. Many scouts were unsettled by this decision and assumed Corral was a negative energy for a team.

If that wasn’t enough, even more schools were worried about Corral after he was de-committed from both USC and Florida.

After leaving Oaks Christian, Corral tweeted out, “I didn’t get expelled, nor did I punch anyone. I ran into problems at a school that is biased towards money. So if you have a lot of it, you run the school. No matter what the situation is. No matter what I say, I am wrong.” 

    Many scouts didn’t see the full story and they thought Corral had too big of an ego to be successful, some even thinking he was a negative energy for his team. However, those within Corral’s inner circle knew that was far from the truth. 

    What major scouts and recruiters failed to realize is the fact that Corral is himself. Corral doesn’t go around acting to be somebody he’s not, Corral is authentic both on and off the field. 

    Matt Corral was put into a situation he was uncomfortable in. A situation in which he had trouble fitting in. Despite all of this, Corral became the only freshman to start in Oaks Christian history before taking his talents to Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where he finished off his high school career before heading to the muddy waters of Mississippi where he’d take his talents to Ole Miss.

    Ole Miss University is a school drenched in college football history. Both Archie and Eli Manning roamed the halls and graced the field of Ole Miss. Archie and Eli are legends that were nearly impossible to come close to the status of, however, no challenge is too big for Matt Corral.

    Corral redshirted his freshman year as Jordan Ta'amu was a lock for the starting spot for Ole Miss.
    
   Corral’s redshirt freshman year proved to be a step in the right direction, with the kids from Ventura throwing for 1,362 yards and 6 touchdowns, totaling 4 starts and 10 appearances. However, it was Corral’s redshirt sophomore season where he broke out, tossing for 3,337 yards and completing 70.9% of his passes. Corral also set a single-game record for passing yards in school history, slinging for 513 against the South Carolina Gamecocks. 

    All good seasons for a young quarterback comes alongside with a miserable game that you can’t seem to escape. No matter what you do you can’t stop throwing to the other team. Unfortunately, for Corral, that game came against SEC rivals, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

    On October 17, 2020, Ole Miss fell at the hands of Arkansas, 33-21. Corral threw for 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in his worst performance of the season. Nearly half of his interceptions in the 2020 season came from the Arkansas game alone.

    Corral, who had an amazing season, was still upset about that one game against Arkansas and was set to make sure he got his revenge the next time he took the field against them.

    If you didn’t know Matt ‘Matty Heisman’ Corral before, you should know. Matty Heisman is a winner, a competitor, a fighter.

    Sure enough, Corral got his rematch scheduled on October 9, 2021, less than a year after throwing for six interceptions against the Razorbacks.

    This time around, Corral was the player of the game in the game of the year in which Ole Miss held on to 52-51. Corral showed off his impressive arm strength and tossed for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns, also accounting for two touchdowns with his legs.

    Nobody except Matty Heisman himself would have predicted that him and the now 13 ranked Ole Miss Rebels could’ve had. Corral has thrown for 1,497 yards, thrown for 12 TDS, ran for 8, and has the second-best QBR in the nation with 89.9.

    Matt Corral, who was once labeled too big of an ego to have success at the college level is now the king of all the rebels and has led Ole Miss to a season for the ages.

    Chris’ take: Matt Corral is one of the most intriguing prospects I’ve seen in ages. He’s got the juice on his arm, the natural, organic juice, that Justin Herbert and Pat Mahomes have. It’s something you can’t teach, you just have. His ability to throw a ball at such a high speed is a talent needed to be elite at the NFL level. Corral’s mentality is also elite. If he continues playing the way he’s been playing, Corral should be the Heisman and a first-round pick. The question is, what team needs a QB? The first three I think of are the Steelers, Colts, and believe it or not, but the Washington Football Team. I love Taylor Heinicke and Ryan Fitzpatrick, but I think Corral would be a better option.

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