Matt Corral puts on show for NFL scouts, GMs

Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral had a big audience in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday. Scouts from 16 NFL teams, including two general managers, were there to watch the gunslinger against Liberty quarterback Malik Willis.

Our Esquina’s weekly list of Latinos in college football has had one consistent star, and it’s the superstar quarterback at Ole Miss.

This is a look to see how Latinos in college football and their teams fared.  We’ve highlighted their achievements and told  their stories during the season.

Latino Players of the Week

Latino Offensive Player of the Week

Matt Corral didn’t disappoint against Malik Willis, a 2022 NFL Draft prospect. Corral and Ole Miss bested Willis’ Liberty squad, 27-14, largely on the strength of his 324-yard passing performance.

Corral completed 20 of 27 passes with one touchdown. Willis went 16 of 25 for 173 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. It remains to be seen whether either or both of them declare for the draft. They both will have eligibility remaining after this season.  However, on Saturday Corral had the upper hand. 

Latino Defensive Player of the Week

Eastern Michigan’s Jose Ramírez excelled in Tuesday-night #MACTION. He had 10 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a quarterback hurry in Eastern Michigan’s 52-49 win over the heavily favored home team, Toledo Rockets. 

EMU is now bowl eligible at 6-3.

Latino Special Teams Player of the Week

Texas A&M kicker Seth Small knocked in four field goals in a 20-3 victory over Auburn. It was not an offensively challenging game for the Aggies who put up 409 yards. 

However, Texas A&M could not find the end zone. The game’s only touchdown was a defensive score, a Micheal Clemons 24-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter and needed Small’s  contributions. 

Small booted field goals of 21, 29, 47 and 37 yards.

Highlighting the Coaches 

It was a good week for Latino coaches. Marcus Arroyo earned his first victory as UNLV head coach with a 31-17 win over Danny Gonzales’ New Mexico Lobos.

After a slow start, Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks soared over the Washington Huskies, 26-16, in a Pacific Northwest rivalry game that turned entertaining during the week. 

Washington head coach Jimmy Lake was asked about the recruiting rivalries between the two schools.

“I think that is way more pumped up (by the media and public) than it is,” he said. “Our battles are really … the schools that we go against are way more … have academic prowess — like the University of Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford, USC. 

“We go with a lot of battles toe-to-toe all the way to the end with those schools. So I think that’s made up a lot and pumped up in your (recruiting service/media) world. In our world, we battle more academically prowess teams.”

After the game , Cristobal said of his team’s performance:

“I’m proud of the way our guys came out and showed our prowess in handling inclement weather and continuing to play hard throughout the entire game,” he said.

Gulp. 

NAME	TEAM	POSITION	STATS	TEAM RESULT
Aguilar, Luis	NAU	K	FG- 1/1PAT- 3/3	L, 40-24 UC Davis
Alcoser, Joe	Houston	DFO		W, 54-42 South Florida
Alonso, Mandy	Virginia	DL		BYE
Araiza, Matt	San Diego St.	P/K	FG-1/2PAT- 2/2	W, 17-10 Hawaii
Aranda, Dave	Baylor	Head Coach		L, 30-28TCU
Arias, Daniel	Colorado	WR	2 rec., 52 yds., 1 TD	W, 37-34 Oregon State
Arroyo, Elijah	Miami (FL)	TE	1 rec., 19 yds.	W, 33-30 GA Tech
Arroyo, Marcus	UNLV	Head Coach		W, 31-17 UNM
Avalos, Andy	Boise State	Head Coach		W, 40-14 Fresno State
Aybar, Wilfredo	Stanford	LB	NO STATS	L, 52-7 Utah
Banda, Ephraim	Utah State	Def. Coord/Safeties		W, 35-13 NMSU
Barr-Mira, Nicholas	UCLA	K		BYE
Borregales, Andrés	Miami (FL)	K	FG- 2/3PAT- 3/3	W, 33-30 GA Tech
Calzada, Zach	Texas A&M	QB	15-29, 192 yds.2 rushes, 8 yds.	W, 20-3 Auburn
Camarena, Evan	Portland State	CB	3 tackles	W, 30-18 Weber State
Canales, Mike “Chico”	Maryland	Analyst		L, 31-14 Penn State
Cardenas, Oscar	UTSA	TE	1 rec., 24 yds.	W, 44-23 UTEP
Cavazos, Lejond	Ohio State	CB	NO STATS	W, 26-17 Nebraska
Chavez, Isaiah	New Mexico	QB	3-3, 8 yds., 1 TD5 rushes, 23 yds.	L, 31-17 UNLV
Coley, James	Texas A&M	TE Coach		W, 20-3 Auburn
Corral, Matt	Ole Miss	QB	20-27, 324 yds, 1 TD6 rushes, 9 yd	W, 27-14 Liberty
Corrales, Beau	North Carolina	WR	NO STATS	W, 58-55 Wake Forest
Cristobal, Mario	Oregon	Head Coach		W, 26-16 Washington
Cropper, Jalen	Fresno St.	WR	3 rec., 46 yds.	L, 40-14 Boise State
Cruz, Gunner	Arizona	QB	NO STATS	W, 10-3 California
Davila, Peter	Albany	DB Coach		W, 20-7 New Hampshire
Diaz, Manny	Miami (FL)	Head Coach		W, 33-30 GA Tech
Echevarria, Jesus	Washington St.	DL		BYE
Escobar, Alex	NM State	RB	2 rushes, 3 yds.	L, 35-13 Utah State
Escobar, Ivan	NM State	DL	NO STATS	L, 35-13 Utah State
Fernandez, Aaron	Southern Utah	RGC/OL		L, 42-24 Idaho
Figueroa, Nick	USC	DL	NO STATS	L, 31-16 Arizona State
Flores, Joah	New Mexico	WR	NO STATS	L, 31-17 UNLV
Flores, Justin	Maine	WR coach		L, 22-17  Stony Brook
Fuente, Justin	Virginia Tech	Head Coach		L, 17-3 Boston College
Flores, Reynaldo	UTEP	RB	1 rec., 7 yds.	L, 44-23 UTSA
Garcia, Albert	Fresno St.	DPP		L, 40-14 Boise State
Garcia, Cole	Rice	DL	NO STATS	L, 31-24 Charlotte
Garcia, Elijah	Rice	DL	5 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFL	L, 31-24 Charlotte
Garcia, Jake	Miami (FL)	QB	NO STATS	W, 33-30 GA Tech
Garcia, Julio	UNLV	OL	Total offense- 304 yds.	W, 31-17 UNM
Garcia, Xavier	Temple	Def. GA		L, 45-3 East Carolina
Garcia- Castaneda, Isaiah	NM State	WR	1 rec., 5 yds.	L, 35-13 Utah State
Gonzalez, Billy	Florida	WR/ Passing Game Coord.		L, 40-17 South Carolina
Gonzales, Christian	Colorado	CB	2 tackles, 2 passes defended	W, 37-34 Oregon State
Gonzales, Danny	New Mexico	Head Coach		L, 31-17 UNM
Gonzales, Paul	TCU	Safeties Coach		L, 30-28 TCU
Gutierrez, Daniel	UNLV	K	FG- 1/1PAT- 4/4	W, 31-17 UNM
Hernandez, Dan	Eastern Illinois	OL Coach		W, 42-26 Austin Peay
Hernandez, Zach	Cal Poly	DB	1 tackle	L, 41-9 Sacramento State
Infante, Gabe	Temple	RB Coach		L, 45-3 East Carolina
Jackson, Jim	Rice	TE Coach		L, 31-24 Charlotte
Longoria, Esai	Montana Tech	OL	Total Offense- 236 yds.	L, 35-21 Montana Western
Loya, Logan	UCLA	WR		BYE
Lozano, Alex	Portland State	LB	NO STATS	W, 30-18 Weber State
Madrigal, Anthony	San Jose St.	LB	NO STATS	L, 27-24 Nevada
Magana, Jorge	Montana Tech	LB	NO STATS	L, 35-21 Montana Western
Maldonado, Dino	NM State	QB	NO STATS	L, 35-13 Utah State
Maldonado, Gunner	Arizona	Safety	NO STATS	W, 10-3 California
Martinez, Adrian	Nebraska	QB	16-31, 248 yds., 1 TD, 1 INT 18 rushes, 51 yds. , 1 TD	L, 26-17 Ohio State
Martinez, Cameron	Ohio State	SAF	1 tackle	W, 26-17 Nebraska
Martinez, RJ	NAU	QB	7-10, 90 YDS, 1 TD 6 rushes, 26 yds., 1 TD	L, 40-24 UC Davis
Martinez, Marc	Tarleton St.	LB coach		W, 42-21 Lamar
Martinez, Willie	Tennessee	CB coach		W, 45-42 Kentucky
Mateos, Eric	Baylor	OL		L, 30-28 TCU
Matthews, Jesse	San Diego State	WR	NO STATS	W, 17-10 Hawaii
Mejia, Christian	Washington St.	DL		BYE
Melo, Lucas	Davenport University	Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line		L, 50-14 Ferris State
Mendez, Julian	Ottawa University	Offensive Coordinator		L, 21-6 Sterling College
Mirabal, Alex	Oregon	OL Coach		W, 26-16 Washington
Montano, Abraham	Fresno State	K	NO STATS	L, 40-14 Boise State
Montero, Antonio	Rice	LB	6 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack	L, 31-24 Charlotte
Morales, Kamari	North Carolina	TE	3 rec., 25 yds.	W, 58-55 Wake Forest
Navarro, Jaime	San Jose St.	OL	Total Offense- 449 yds.	L, 27-24 Nevada
Navarro, Juan	NCCU	DL Coach		W, 38-36 Norfolk State
Navarro, Donny	Illinois	WR	NO STATS	W, 14-6 Minnesota
Nunez, Jay	Eastern Michigan	Sp. TeamsAssoc. HC		W, 52-49 Toledo
Olave, Chris	Ohio State	WR	7 rec., 61 yds., 1 TD	W, 26-17 Nebraska
Ornelas, Jesse	Central Oklahoma	RB Coach		L, 37-22 Nebraska-Kearney
Ortega, Josh	UTEP	DE	3 tackles	L, 44-23 UTSA
Ortega- Jones, Julian	Texas St.	WR	1 rec., 4 yds.	W, 27-19 ULM
Ortiz, Angel	Ottawa Univ. (AZ)	WR Coach		W, 61-30 Wayland Baptist
Pacheco, Isaih	Rutgers	RB	9 rushes, 55 yds.	L, 52-3 Wisconsin
Padilla, David	Charleston Southern	Ass’t AD for Football		L, 21-18 NC A&T
Pagan, Justice	Portland State	LB	1 tackle, 0.5 sack, 0.5 TFL	W, 30-18 Weber State
Perales, David	Fresno State	DL	4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 TFL	L, 40-14 Boise State
Ponce, Frank	Appalachian State	Offensive Coordinator		W, 48-14 Arkansas St.
Ramirez, José	Eastern Michigan	DE	10 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 QB Hurry	W, 52-49 Toledo
Ramirez, Manny	Texas Southern	OL Coach		L, 41-21 Jackson State
Regalado, Marco	Washington State	Director of On-Campus Recruiting		BYE
Restrepo, Xavier	Miami (FL)	WR	2 rec., 11 yds.	W, 33-30 GA Tech
Reveles, Miguel	La Verne	Offensive Coordinator		W, 38-37 Pomona Pitzer
Rivas, Eddie	Texas State	OL	Total Offense- 434 yds.	W, 27-19 ULM
Rivas- Sandoval, Cesar	Southeastern University	Head Coach		W, 21-14 St. Andrews Univ.
Rodriguez, Anthony	Portland State	TE	1 rec., 1 yd.	W, 30-18 Weber State
Rodriguez, Chris	Kentucky	RB	22 rushes, 109 yds.	L, 45-42 Tennessee
Rodriguez, Drew	Towson St.	QB coach		L, 28-17 Richmond
Rodriguez, Jacob	Virginia	RB		BYE
Rodriguez, Joel	FIU	OL coach		L, 47-24 ODU
Rodriguez, Juan	Fresno State	TE	NO STATS	L, 40-14 Boise State
Rodriguez, Justin	UTSA	RB	NO STATS	W, 44-23 UTEP
Rodriguez, Malcolm	Oklahoma St.	LB	9 tackles, 1 TFL	W, 24-3 West Virginia
Rodriguez, Oscar	Akron	Assoc. HC/ ILB		L, 31-25 Ball State
Rodriguez, Robert	Arizona St.	DL coach		W, 31-16 USC
Rojas, Manny	Delaware	Def. Coordinator		W, 24-3 William & Mary
Rubio, Cruz	Cal Poly	LS	NO STATS	L, 41-9 Sacramento State
Salazar, Martin	Portland State	DL	NO STATS	W, 30-18 Weber State
Sanchez, Angel	Montana Tech	CB	6 tackles	L, 35-21 Montana Western
Santa Cruz, Victor	Hawaii	Defensive Ends coach		L, 17-10 San Diego St.
Santana, Bryce	New Mexico	DE	NO STATS	L, 31-17 UNLV
Santana, JuanCarlos	Tulsa	WR	4 rec., 51 yds., 1 TD	L, 28-20 Cincinnati
Segura, Justin	NM State	DL	1 tackle	W, 35-13 Utah State
Silva, Cesar	Fresno State	K	PAT- 2/2	L, 40-14 Boise State
Small, Seth	Texas A&M	K	FG- 4/5	W, 20-3 Auburn
Sori-Marin, Mariano	Minnesota	LB	12 tackles	L, 14-6 Illinois
Soto, Anthony	Lenoir-Rhyne	Offensive Coordinator/ /OL		W, 56-20 Barton College
Steele, Chris	USC	CB	3 tackles	L, 31-16 Arizona State
Stone, Jr., Ron	Washington State	LB		BYE
Umana, Orlando	Ole Miss	OL	Total offense- 466 yds.	W, 27-14 Liberty
Velazquez, Alonzo	Wyoming	OL	Total offense- 477 yds.	W, 31-17 Colorado State
Ybarra, Austin	Montana Tech	LB	NO STATS	L, 35-21 Montana Western