Ole Miss QBs improving decision-making
OXFORD – Ole Miss backup quarterback Matt Corral pulled back the handoff, tucked the ball into the crook of his right arm and took off to his right.
“The end was buried into the line, so I was really just making sure that backer wasn’t there,” he recalled Tuesday after practice. “And he got buried a little bit, not too much, but I felt like I could beat him, and I had good blocking on the outside from (wide receiver) DaMarkus Lodge.”
Lodge pushed a Louisiana-Monroe cornerback toward the sideline as Corral ran between him and a missed tackle on the other side. He checked over his left shoulder at the 40-yard line and then again at the 20. No one could catch him. He was going to score a 61-yard touchdown.
That was one of many plays last Saturday that made Ole Miss offensive coordinator Phil Longo say he was impressed with both of his quarterbacks’ decision-making in the Rebels’ recordbreaking 70-21 win over LouisianaMonroe. This past weekend that decision-making led to 826 yards of total offense, a new program high. But what about moving forward, against tougher competition?
When it came to starting quarterback Jordan Ta’amu’s performance, Longo said, “I do see it as a step forward because a lot of those decisions are presnap. Post-snap we kind of know where we’re going. It’s that time in the twilight zone between them getting the signal and then running the play that they have to assimilate some information to make a decision about where they want to go. So regardless of the opponent, it’s the decision making before the snap that I thought could be more consistent, and it was on Saturday.”
Four weeks ago, in a 62-7 loss to Alabama, Ta’amu hit a low in that aspect of his game.
“I think the key was, maybe the difference, [the Crimson Tide] were able to get pressure on the quarterback and make him make some decisions that he hadn’t had to make, and under duress," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said then, regarding the ineffectiveness of the Rebels' passing game.
Ta’amu, who leads the Southeastern Conference in passing yards (1,911), completed just seven of his 22 pass attempts. He threw two interceptions, his first of the season.
Compare that to Saturday’s performance against ULM when Ta’amu’s passing efficiency was all but perfect: 21-of-24 for 374 yards.
“Jordan was on the mark today,” Longo said after the game. “And I actually didn’t coach him much because there wasn’t much to tell him. We’re running what we run and we’re doing what we do. He was just making really good decisions.”
Ta’amu was in for seven drives, and the Rebels scored on every one of them. It took until Ole Miss’ last possession of the first quarter for Ta’amu to throw an incomplete pass. He also took advantage of situations that allowed him to pull it and run, racking up 63 rushing yards.
Corral replaced Ta’amu in the second half and was 10-of-10 passing for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He scored another touchdown on his feet, finishing the night with 78 rushing yards.
“He’s a fighter, he’s a competitor,” Longo said. “What I really, really liked was the fact that he made very quick decisions. Even when he made a couple wrong ones, he made them really, really fast. They were really aggressive. One of them actually became a positive play because of how quickly he dished the ball out. I think the sky’s the limit for Matt as he keeps developing.”