Lane Kiffin’s game-planning with Matt Corral went out the window pretty fast when the signal caller was injured in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl.
Corral was unable to play the remainder of the game against Baylor. Thankfully, the x-rays were negative, Kiffin said during his postgame press conference.
Once Corral was injured, freshman Luke Altmyer came into the game and struggled at times. Baylor recorded 10 sacks and the freshman threw 2 INTs. The Bears beat the Rebels 21-7.
Kiffin was asked after the game about his emotions seeing Corral get injured so early in the game.
“You know, I probably didn’t do a good enough job,” Kiffin said. “That’s a difficult situation, especially when a kid is playing in the game. My mind raced with a lot of thoughts right there. That’s just my love for him just like it was my own son in that situation. So, maybe I didn’t do a great enough job with the team because I was really hurting for him in that situation. I know how much he’s put into it and how much it means to him and for that to be taken away like that, it really sucks.”
The Ole Miss head coach was then asked to explain the impact of Corral on the program.
“He’s been unbelievable, and the things you don’t see besides playing, just how he is. I had a cool moment this morning in the team meeting, just listening to him talk,” Kiffin continued. “I told our coaches and players: You can be a freshman and you’re supposed to listen to the leaders. You can be a 50-year-old coach and you should listen to this guy.
“I mean, what he said today to the team about after last season, after the Outback Bowl, and all he wanted to do was come back and impact players the way that Elijah Moore impacted him off the field as a person. He’s just real special, and he is going to make a great NFL player and do great for a franchise.”
You can watch Kiffin’s postgame press conference below: