After Sugar Bowl experience, Altmyer competes for Ole Miss quarterback job
OXFORD — Luke Altmyer can’t stop thinking about the Sugar Bowl.
Maybe can’t isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s better to say Altmyer won’t let himself stop thinking about the Sugar Bowl.
The Starkville native heads into his sophomore year at Ole Miss entrenched in a battle with USC transfer Jaxson Dart to replace Matt Corral as the starting quarterback. Altmyer isn’t a stranger to having to replace Corral. He had to fill in for Corral on the biggest stage in January, playing three quarters of the Sugar Bowl against Baylor after Corral sustained a high ankle sprain.
The results were middling at best. Ole Miss lost 21-7. Altmyer completed 15 of 28 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, one of which was returned for a Baylor touchdown.
And while Altmyer flashed some of the talent that made him a four-star recruit out of high school and the highest-rated in-state quarterback Ole Miss has signed in decades, the mistakes are hard to forget.
“I think about it every day and kind of beat myself up over it,” Altmyer said Thursday. “Really my biggest flaw as a player and person is I’m the biggest perfectionist and overthinker there is. It’s hard to battle some days. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.”
Even before the Sugar Bowl, Altmyer was aware Ole Miss was looking to bring in another quarterbac. Former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby kept him in the loop about the Rebels’ pursuit of an extra scholarship quarterback in December. After coach Lane Kiffin replaced Lebby with Charlie Weis Jr., Altmyer remained in the know.
Altmyer and Dart have become fast friends. Dart said Altmyer was among the first ones to shake his hand and introduce himself when he got to Oxford.
Altmyer said he’s supportive of Dart when it’s his time on the field and he says Dart does the same for him. Dart said it’s clear Altmyer was raised the right way.
But don’t confuse southern charm and decorum for passiveness.
“I believe in myself. I really do,” Altmyer said. “I understand the nature of the business and everything like that, but I go to work every day with the belief that I can lead this team.”
If Altmyer has one advantage over Dart, it’s his experience in Ole Miss’ system and, by extension, the year he was allowed to spend learning under Corral.
Altmyer said the big lesson he learned from Corral was about the dual responsibilities of leadership. Corral knew how to command a locker room and a huddle, always making himself
understood. But he also had a knack for understanding others and making himself available to teammates who want to be better understood.
Those are the traits Altmyer wants to work on. He said he’s seen himself grow as a football player and as a person and he believes it puts him in position to compete for the starting job.
The Sugar Bowl is the past. Altmyer is going to keep beating himself up about it. But he’s not going to let it change his perspective.
“It’s right now, today, how I deal with it,” Altmyer said. “What if I could’ve done this, how the outcome would’ve changed. That’s the thing I kind of battle daily. I believe in myself. I wouldn’t change the experience for the world.”
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.