Ole Miss survives with little defense

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, right, congratulates quarterback Matt Corral (2) after leading his team to a second half touchdown against Arkansas at an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss won 52-51. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral did all he could in Saturday’s game with No. 13 Arkansas, but was feeling helpless on the sideline.

So he didn’t even watch the last play of the game to see if Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson was successful on a two-point conversion that would have snatched away a win from the No. 17 Rebels.

“I had my face in (running back coach Kevin) Smith’s chest," Corral said. "I did not watch that. I was too nervous.”

Jefferson’s pass for Treylon Burks with no time left was incomplete and Ole Miss survived with a 52-51 win.

“We kind of expected a quarterback run and a little bit of a rollout, to put it high, to be a little bit outside,” Rebels linebacker Chance Campbell said. “He threw it and you just got to turn, break and follow it and stop who is out of bounds. The guys made a good play and it feels good to know the game is done.”

It was a bounce-back win for Ole Miss, which lost 42-21 at top-ranked Alabama last week.

“We managed to play as bad a defense as we could physically, possibly just to keep the crowd around until the end,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin told ESPN reporter Katie George on the field after the game. "But we won. Now we can have some popcorn.”

It was a game that featured 1,287 yards total offense. Jefferson accounted for six touchdowns and Corral accounted for four.

“There was 674 yards rushing in the game so both teams did a good job running the ball, both quarterbacks ran the ball well and almost had 100 yards rushing each,” Kiffin said.

“There were some strange stats. They were 8 for 8 in the red zone and we go 3 for 3 and we win; unusual.”

Corral threw six interceptions in a 33-21 loss to the Razorbacks last season in Fayetteville, but his team had no turnovers Saturday.

“It was a good game and I am not taking anything away from Arkansas at all,” Corral said. “They are a good team and they play very hard and they are very good at what they do scheme-wise.

“It was hectic at the end for sure, down to the last second for sure with them having the ball in their hands. You want it to be on you to win the game. It was a great game and a good win for us.”

Corral completed 14 of 21 passes for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rushed 15 times for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I mean it’s crazy to think of what the game would have been without him,” Kiffin said. “The guy threw threw the ball lights out, ran the ball well against a really good defense for almost 100 yards rushing. That’s the second-best pass defense in the country coming in statistically without arguably his best receiver (Jonathan Mingo).”

Corral said he didn’t do anything different in preparing for Arkansas after all the interceptions last season.

“It was a big game just because it was the next game,” Corral said. “I just did my job and we did what we needed to do and got the win. That was all. I didn’t do anything different leading up to this game if that is what you are asking. It was just like it was any other game.”

Jefferson scored on a 10-yard run and Cam Little added the PAT to tie it 45-45 with 1:22 left in the game.

But just two plays later, Corral tossed a 68-yard touchdown to Braylon Sanders to give his team back the lead with 1:07 left.

“I was really just worrying about what had to get done,” Corral said. “Everyone was getting caught up in the fact that we had just scored, but I knew if they went down and scored real quick, we were going to have to score again. So I was making sure everybody was locked into the game until it was over.”

That’s what happened as Arkansas drove 75 yards in nine plays, capping it with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson to Warren Thompson as time expired.

Kiffin, whose team was 4 of 5 on fourth-down conversions against Arkansas, was not surprised the visitors went for the win instead of settling for overtime.

“As you guys know, we go through all that constantly and it’s moving through the game,” Kiffin said. “If you are at home and a slight favorite, analytics will tell you to kick.

“Analytics, if you are the underdog, you go for two and maybe that is what they were thinking, especially in a high-scoring game.”

Kiffin made his decision on what he would do in the same situation early in the fourth quarter.

“We had used our best two-point play,” Kiffin said. “We have others, but we had used the one we like the most, so I had actually said halfway through the fourth that we are going to kick, get it to overtime and let the quarterback find a way to score.”

Corral tossed a 67-yard touchdown pass to Dontario Drummond in the second quarter and Snoop Conner had scoring runs of 51, 34 and 1 yards.

Henry Parrish had 111 yards rushing and Conner added 100 of the Rebels’ 324 on the ground.

“That is why we got those (passing) shots is because their safeties stayed tight because we would run and run and run and then take a shot,” Corral said. “That was why it was wide open.”

Kiffin was pleased that his team did not suffer many negative-yardage plays.

“I think as you look at this, what is unique versus a very tough defense that is very physical is that you have got six yards total on lost rushing on...47 rushing attempts,” Kiffin said. “You have got to do that because you have to get the third and fourth downs close against them or they are going to be able to drop eight all day. You have got to be efficient like that.”