Matt Corral’s first quarter leg injury cast a shadow over the Sugar Bowl.

And while Luke Altmyer proved to be a capable backup, and showed flashes at times, the Ole Miss offense struggled to find a consistent rhythm, and lost the Sugar Bowl to Baylor, 21-7 on Saturday night.

Altmyer, with the Ole Miss faithful rocking inside the Superdome found Braylon Sanders for a 37-yard touchdown to tie the game with 9:13 left in the third quarter. Then, as Baylor appeared to be driving to answer, Ole Miss got a key turnover on an interception by Miles Battle in his own end zone.

While Ole Miss had surging momentum at the end of the third quarter, a missed field goal attempt, and a 48-yard touchdown run by Baylor speedster Monara Baldwin gave Baylor all it needed. Then Altmyer threw a second interception as Baylor began to pull away, as the Bears scored twice within a span of 3:50 in the fourth quarter to open a two-touchdown lead.

A last-ditch effort to pull within one score ended on fourth down when Altmyer was sacked following a pass rush up the middle. It was a theme of the night as Baylor made 10 sacks of Ole Miss. The Rebels fell to 10-3 on the season.

Ole Miss did not have any players opt out of the Sugar Bowl, and chief among them was Corral, who is expected to be an early-round draft pick this spring in the NFL. He passionately defended his decision, then showed plenty of grit to lead Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, and aside from an early interception, he looked strong, and even showed off his patented scrambling ability with 7 carries for 17 yards.

But with 2:13 left in the first quarter, Corral suffered what appeared to be a right ankle injury and was helped off the field. It came after an earlier ankle injury against Auburn when he was carted off the field. He was 2-for-6 passing for 10 yards against Baylor on Saturday. Ole Miss attempted a 49-yard field goal, but it sailed wide right after Corral’s injury.

Corral got off to a rough start when he threw an interception to JT Woods on the second offensive snap from scrimmage for Ole Miss. Ole Miss’ defense held up, and immediately stopped Baylor on a fourth down conversion with a big hit just short of the first down marker.

Altmyer replaced Corral and immediately threw a deep pass on a play that had offsetting penalties.

But a game-changing play came when Altmyer had a pass tipped on the next drive, and it was intercepted and returned 96 yards by Al Walcott with 10:16 remaining in the first half. It was the longest interception return in Sugar Bowl history, and the only scoring of the first half.

Corral made headlines earlier when he announced that he wouldn’t opt out of the Sugar Bowl as he prepares for the NFL Draft. But besides the injury, Corral will be remembered for his 3,339 passing yards and 20 touchdowns, but also his 597 yards and 11 touchdowns, and toughness to battle through injuries and would-be tacklers.

As for the rest of the game, Ole Miss stood tall after Corral’s departure, even though Smith rushed for more than 170 yards, including a 49-yarder in the first half. Smith’s production was no surprise after he rushed for 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he needed only 119 yards to break the Baylor single-season record for yards rushing.

Smith paired with the strong Baylor defense was a tall order for Ole Miss. Entering the Sugar Bowl, Baylor’s defense allowed an average of 19.2 points per game and did not allow more than 30 points in any contest.

Altmyer also settled in after a rocky start. By the end of the third quarter Altmyer, who started 6-for-13, went on a hot streak and was 12-for-19 passing for 133 yards. But Ole Miss couldn’t keep it going.