Matt Corral has a chance for one of those Heisman moments this week

Sep. 27—OXFORD — It took fewer than three college football Saturdays for Matt Corral to move from Heisman Trophy afterthought to favorite.

That's what Corral is according to many who cover sports betting.

Early on the favorite was Spencer Rattler of Oklahoma.

In conversations about the best returning quarterbacks Rattler and North Carolina's Sam Howell routinely received more mention than Corral.

Some believed Corral might not be the best in the SEC with deference given to Georgia's JT Daniels and Florida's Emory Jones.

A year ago Corral, led the nation in total offense.

He came out of left field to do it after being the passing quarterback and a non-starter in a run-based offense the year before. With that in mind it was not surprising that Alabama's Mac Jones and Florida's Kyle Trask dominated QB talk in the SEC in 2020.

Corral should have been given more credit at the start of this season. Now he's getting that attention, and he'll be the first to tell you now is when it doesn't matter.

There's a lot of football still to play.

Every Heisman winner has at least one big "Heisman Moment" on the path to his New York City acceptance speech.

That moment usually comes from a big performance in a big game.

Corral will face no bigger challenge this regular season than when he and the Rebels travel to Tuscaloosa to meet No. 1 Alabama on Saturday afternoon.

Alabama has its own Heisman-contending quarterback in freshman Bryce Young.

Beating Ole Miss and Corral would further Young's campaign.

The quarterback matchup will get lots of talk this week.

It's very different from a year ago when Alabama coach Nick Saban was so surprised that his game against Ole Miss remained undecided in the middle of the fourth quarter that he charged the Ole Miss staff with stealing Alabama's defensive signals.

Ole Miss has never had a Heisman winner.

Six times the Rebels have had a player finish in the top five of the voting. Jake Gibbs in 1960, Archie Manning in 1970 and Eli Manning in 2003 all finished third, the highest for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss will not surprise Alabama this season. Corral and the Rebels will get Alabama's best defensive shot.

Maybe that will be enough, maybe not.

Alabama gave up 258 rushing yards to Florida in Week 3 while holding on to beat the Gators 31-29.

The same day Ole Miss rushed for 372 yards against Tulane. Corral was responsible for seven touchdowns then, four of them on the ground.

Sometimes Heisman winners have a sub-par game along the way, but that's about the extent of the margin for error.

That's especially true in Corral's case. Having begun the season under the radar suggests he could return there quickly if his season turns south.

Beating Alabama won't guarantee that Corral will win the Heisman, but if the Rebels do win they will be cemented as SEC West favorites the rest of the way.

Surviving that stretch and reaching the championship game, that's the cumulative body of work — the consistency — that would have Corral striking that famous pose in December.

PARRISH ALFORD is the college sports editor and columnist for the Daily Journal. Contact him at parrish.alford@journalinc.com.