Lane Kiffin defends Matt Corral in Heisman race: 'His job is a lot harder'

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin still believes in quarterback Matt Corral as a contender for the Heisman Trophy. Corral has cooled off a bit after a dominant start to the season. Through three games, Corral accounted for 14 total touchdowns. Corral has nine over the last four games.

On the season, Corral has thrown for 1,913 yards, 15 touchdowns, and one interception. He also has 474 rushing yards with nine scores on the ground. Corral has been seen as a serious contender for the Heisman throughout the season, although his status as a favorite might not be as strong as it was a few weeks ago.

Kiffin still believes that Corral should be a serious Heisman contender due to his job being “a lot harder.” Ole Miss had dealt with injuries and personnel losses, making things harder on Corral than other contenders might be seeing.

“You kind of heard my frustration after the game,” Kiffin said. “I just get frustrated for Matt. He’s got all these pieces moving and all of a sudden you think you got guys and they get injured. And I know what he could do with those main guys. He doesn’t want to talk about the Heisman. I just notice, you put on the tape and see what he deals with. How he has to move around and make plays. For some other people, just stand back there for ten seconds and everybody gets a lot open. His job is a lot harder.”

Kiffin understands why Corral’s Heisman odds have dropped

Corral’s Heisman Trophy odds dropped from +210 to +250 last week. While Corral has undoubtedly played his way into contention, it just might not be enough to take home the award.

“I can understand that,” Kiffin said earlier in the week. ““I’m not being critical, but it’s hard for anybody to watch all the games. They play at the same time and all of that stuff, so I think a lot of people read stats. So they don’t know who’s injured, who he’s not playing with, what he has to do, how he has to make plays — that’s just part of it. The thing that usually has to happen is you have to keep winning, too.

“There’s a lot of variables that go into [the Heisman Trophy]. That does not make it, every year, necessarily the best player in college football.”

Corral, Kiffin, and Ole Miss are back in action at 7 p.m. ET at Auburn on Saturday night. The Rebels are 6-1 on the season and 3-1 against SEC opponents.