Ole Miss ripped off a 76-41 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday evening, after sputtering mightily on defense through much of the first half. The Rebs allowed just three points in the second half, and racked up 41 of their own to close the Salukis out of Oxford.
The game was frustrating on multiple fronts — most notably on the defensive side of the ball — because the SIU matchup presented itself as one that would see deeper members of the Rebel depth chart, including four-star QB Matt Corral.
It took longer than was perhaps expected, but Corral at last saw playing time in the game’s fourth quarter, with the score 69-41. He took over with about seven minutes remaining in regulation, and calmly helmed the offense right down the field on the strength of a platoon of running backs that ate up yards and precluded the need for Corral to go to the air.
Then, a second and long situation popped up in SIU territory, and Corral hit Alex Weber down the right boundary for a sizable first down conversion.
Alex Weber just pulled a Tyrone Prothro pic.twitter.com/5JTn1xhupI
— Ben Garrett (@SpiritBen) September 8, 2018
Tyrone Prothro indeed. More immediately, though, let’s consider D.K. Metcalf’s similar helmet catch from just last year.
Corral’s connect with Weber was his lone completion of the day for 31 yards. He would go on to run in the game’s final touchdown himself a few plays later, to end the day with a QB rating of 180.2. Not bad at all.
Stick around; we’ll have more for you tonight and tomorrow.