Luke Altmyer showed a quality upside and a work-in-progress situation during his extended audition Saturday in New Orleans.

Matt Corral injured his right ankle during the first quarter of the Rebels’ 21-7 loss to Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, forcing the true freshman into action against the Bears and their disruptive front.

Altymer started slowly, showed improvisation and promise during an extended run of rhythm and then made a critical error that put the game out of reach for Ole Miss. The Starkville, Mississippi, product finished 15-for-29 for 174 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

“He played well enough for us to win,” Ole Miss running back Jerrion Ealy said. “We didn’t help him out enough. I didn’t help him out enough… He kept us in the game and played great. Didn’t expect anything less.”

Altmyer started 6-for-13 for 32 yards including a tipped pass in the red zone that went for a pick-six to open the scoring. From there he settled down some in the second half, hitting six straight completions including a 37-yard touchdown to Braylon Sanders for Ole Miss’ only score.

Altmyer moved outside the pocket and evaded trouble multiple times on the drive, a necessity, as Baylor dominated the Ole Miss interior for most of the night, sacking Rebel quarterbacks 10 times.

Corral was 2-for-6 for 10 yards and an interception prior to the injury. The X-ray on Corral's ankle was negative which should have him full strength for the combine and pro day.

After Cale Nation missed a 35-yard field goal that would have given Ole Miss the lead at the time, the Rebels got a turnover on a Miles Battle interception for another opportunity. Altymer, however, threw into coverage inside his own 25-yard line, leading to the go-ahead score and a huge momentum swing.

Atmyer was a four-star prospect out of high school and the 239th player nationally. With Corral headed to the NFL Draft, Altmyer will compete against whomever comes out of the transfer portal to be the starting quarterback.

Lane Kiffin has been vocal about the Rebels’ desire to add to the quarterback room out of the portal, and Ole Miss recruited but didn’t land Spencer Rattler and Dillon Gabriel, among others. The Rebels have also offered Cam Ward, who entered the portal out of FCS program Incarnate Word.

Altmyer’s only other action of note this season was against Auburn when Corral also injured an ankle but returned to the game. Against the Tigers, Altmyer was 5-for-5 for 18 yards, completing his longest pass for 11 yards.

“I thought Luke did some good things once he got playing a little bit,” Kiffin said. “He made some out-of-rhythm plays, running around. It’s a hard setting. That’s a really great defense. They give a lot of people problems. Not many people score a lot of points.”

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