Ole Miss authored an incredible 39-34 Sugar Bowl victory thanks to a 47-yard a game-winning field goal by Lucas Carneiro with six seconds left.
Carneiro’s kick came after No. 3 Georgia tied the game with less than a minute remaining on a short field goal by Peyton Woodring. And the Rebels got into field goal position when QB Trinidad Chambliss found WR De’Zhaun Stribling in man coverage on third down with under 30 seconds to go after Georgia sent a blitz hoping to force a punt and try for a game-winning kick of its own.
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The win means No. 6 Ole Miss will play No. 10 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for a spot in the national championship game on Jan. 19. And it also means that Ole Miss has now won two College Football Playoff games under coach Pete Golding after Lane Kiffin left the team at the end of the regular season to be the new coach at LSU.
Though Carneiro’s field goal broke a 34-34 tie, the margin of victory ended up being five points after a lateral by Georgia on the ensuing kickoff hit an end zone pylon to result in a safety.
That safety necessitated a replay review to establish that there was still a second on the clock. The review took place as Ole Miss celebrated and the Sugar Bowl trophy presentation stage had been wheeled out onto the field.
After the stage was wheeled back off the field — and the celebrations stopped — Georgia tried an onside kick and recovered it. But the Bulldogs’ last-ditch multi-lateral play included a penalty and didn’t go anywhere in the first place.
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The best quarterfinal of the season … by far
The final quarterfinal of this season’s College Football Playoff provided the most drama. Chambliss and Georgia QB Gunner Stockton each played incredibly well as the Rebels somehow scored 27 points in the second half on their way to the win.
Chambliss took over in the second half with his improvisation skills. The Rebels took a 27-24 lead on a TD run by Kewan Lacy after Chambliss saved multiple plays that assuredly looked like they’d result in a no gain at best.
Carneiro’s kick came after No. 3 Georgia tied the game with less than a minute remaining on a short field goal by Peyton Woodring. And the Rebels got into field goal position when QB Trinidad Chambliss found WR De’Zhaun Stribling in man coverage on third down with under 30 seconds to go after Georgia sent a blitz hoping to force a punt and try for a game-winning kick of its own.
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The win means No. 6 Ole Miss will play No. 10 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for a spot in the national championship game on Jan. 19. And it also means that Ole Miss has now won two College Football Playoff games under coach Pete Golding after Lane Kiffin left the team at the end of the regular season to be the new coach at LSU.
Though Carneiro’s field goal broke a 34-34 tie, the margin of victory ended up being five points after a lateral by Georgia on the ensuing kickoff hit an end zone pylon to result in a safety.
That safety necessitated a replay review to establish that there was still a second on the clock. The review took place as Ole Miss celebrated and the Sugar Bowl trophy presentation stage had been wheeled out onto the field.
After the stage was wheeled back off the field — and the celebrations stopped — Georgia tried an onside kick and recovered it. But the Bulldogs’ last-ditch multi-lateral play included a penalty and didn’t go anywhere in the first place.
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The best quarterfinal of the season … by far
The final quarterfinal of this season’s College Football Playoff provided the most drama. Chambliss and Georgia QB Gunner Stockton each played incredibly well as the Rebels somehow scored 27 points in the second half on their way to the win.
Chambliss took over in the second half with his improvisation skills. The Rebels took a 27-24 lead on a TD run by Kewan Lacy after Chambliss saved multiple plays that assuredly looked like they’d result in a no gain at best.
Chambliss finished 30-of-46 passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns. It’s not a stretch to say it was the best performance of his career.
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The former Ferris State QB transferred to Ole Miss ahead of the 2025 season and began the year backing up Austin Simmons. After Simmons injured his ankle in Week 2, Chambliss became the team’s starter and didn’t relinquish the job after Simmons got healthy.
Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting — one place behind Stockton — as he threw for nearly 3,300 yards and 19 TDs during the regular season while also rushing for 506 yards and eight scores.
Ole Miss trailed 21-12 at halftime after the Rebels botched the final offensive play before halftime. Instead of potentially kicking a field goal to cut Georgia’s lead to six, Ole Miss TE Dae’Quan Wright didn’t get out of bounds after catching a pass in Georgia territory with less than 10 seconds to go.
It was easy to see how the end to the second quarter could be demoralizing for the Rebels. Instead, Ole Miss responded with 20 points in the fourth quarter to seize control of the game.
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Georgia almost benefited from a massive missed call
Ole Miss fans would gladly point out that Georgia shouldn’t have had the opportunity to tie the game with less than a minute to go.
The Bulldogs’ game-tying field goal came after officials inexplicably missed a blatant facemask on Lacy. The missed call came on second down and would have resulted in an automatic first down with approximately six minutes to go.
Instead, Chambliss’ third-down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and Georgia converted a huge fourth down itself to get into position for a game-tying field goal.
Stockton finished the game 18-of-31 passing for 204 yards and a TD while also rushing for two scores. In any other game — especially in November — that would have been plenty for Georgia to win.
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It wasn’t on Thursday night.
Georgia entered the Sugar Bowl allowing just 29 points over its last four games combined. The Bulldogs’ defense had emerged at the end of the regular season and held Alabama to just 209 total yards in the SEC title game. The 12 points Ole Miss had at halftime was the most anyone had scored on Georgia since Mississippi State put up 21 on Nov. 8.
The Rebels kept scoring in the second half. Lacy finished with 22 carries for 98 yards and two scores while Harrison Wallace III had nine catches for 156 yards and a TD and Stribling had seven catches for 122 yards.
