Former Ole Miss QB Matt Corral 'knocked the rust off' as a starter in UFL debut
For the first time in nearly three years Matt Corral took the football field as the starting quarterback for his team. The former Ole Miss signal caller made his debut with the Birmingham Stallions on Saturday and won the first game of the newly formed UFL, beating the Arlington Renegades.
Corral was named the starting quarterback for the Stallions earlier this week, marking the first time he had the keys to an offense since the 2021 season in Oxford in Lane Kiffin’s second season.
An up and down start to Corral’s professional career hit a smooth spot on Saturday. Corral was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft but then the bumps started to appear, beginning with a Lisfranc injury in preseason camp that sidelined him for his rookie season.
Then the Panthers drafted former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 and that sealed Corral’s fate in Charlotte. A short stint with the New England Patriots then closed the book on the NFL, for now.
Saturday’s performance in the Stallion’s 27-14 win, including a comeback led by Corral, was the kind of start he needed to get on the road to potentially landing on a NFL roster once again. The UFL has an agreement with the NFL to sign players after the season ends in early Summer.
A quarterback draw resulted in Corral taking a hard tackle. The shot caused him to bit his tongue and bleed out of his mouth, but the tackle also appeared to bring him out of a two year-long fog.
“I love Matt. I love his attitude, his work ethic,” Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz said. “He ran a draw to get us in the red zone right at the end of the quarter. He came over to me and I said, ‘Alright, here’s what we’re thinking.’ He looked right at me and said, ‘I needed that. I needed that hit. I needed to get hit like to be like, alright now we’re playing football.’ It was like, ‘I got to knock the rust off.'”
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Corral received high praise from the announcers, sideline reports and social media with his performance. A highlight was a 39-yard touchdown pass in the closing seconds of the first half when the Stallions were trailing 11-3.
He finished with 201 yards and the touchdown on 12-of-21 passing. Corrall also ran the ball four times for 25 yards.
“He’s a competitor, now,” Holtz added about Corral. “There’s a lot of things that happened that weren’t drawn up on these boards up here. …Some of the reads he made, I thought he did an excellent job. Still got a long ways to go, but I was really proud of him.”
Corral was not the only former Ole Miss player to see action on opening day in the UFL.
Breeland Speaks is on the Michigan Panthers roster and recorded half a sack in the win. Corral and the Stallions will have their home opener next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN, hosting Speaks and the Panthers.
Sunday brings the second batch of games of Week 1, including former Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu leading the D.C. Defenders for another season.
