Lane Kiffin reveals what went through his mind when Matt Corral was carted off

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels lost their AP top 10 distinction after a 31-20 loss to the Auburn Tigers, but when quarterback Matt Corral went down with an ankle injury, it looked like Ole Miss was going to lose much more.

Corral on first-and-10 took a shotgun snap and ran a play-action play, but a blitzing Auburn defender forced the Ole Miss quarterback to turn and run further out of the pocket. Before Corral could throw a pass, which was ultimately deflected and caught by an Ole Miss offensive lineman, his ankle appeared to get stuck beneath the body of the Auburn defender. Corral was carted off the field, and after subsequent replays, it appeared his night was over and his season was in jeopardy.

“I thought the way he came off [the injury] was really bad,” Kiffin said after the game, explaining his thought process after Corral was carted off. “I thought broken, and I’d already kind of gone to that place, so I was kind of surprised that he could come back, especially come back and have some type of movement still, which was awesome.”

However, as Kiffin alluded, Corral only let four-star recruit Luke Altmyer quarterback for one drive before he emerged from the locker room with his ankle taped, shockingly making his return to the game. Corral proceeded to rush for an 11-yard touchdown despite the ankle troubles, and he finished with 21 completions in 37 attempts, with 289 passing yards, one interception and no passing touchdowns. Meanwhile, he tallied 45 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Before Corral came back onto the field, Kiffin was frustrated. In fact, he even started to blame himself for the injury, suggesting that his play call might have put Corral in a dangerous position, after which the Ole Miss signal caller went down with the injury.

“I was thinking any time something like that happens, you think ‘oh, we should’ve had a better play on the first down, where he got hit and injured when we were taking a shot.’ So, it was obviously good to have him back there,” Kiffin said. “The play before had been running down with the play clock and stuff, so we had to use a timeout.”

With the loss, Ole Miss dropped to No. 15 in the AP top 25 poll, while Auburn moved up from No. 18 to No. 12. It remains unclear whether Corral’s ankle injury will hamper him in the coming weeks, but Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will need him healthy with a home game against No. 13 Texas A&M just two weeks away.