Lucas Carneiro drilled a tiebreaking 47-yard field goal with six seconds left, propelling No. 6 Ole Miss to a 39-34 victory over No. 3 Georgia in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl on Thursday in New Orleans.
Trinidad Chambliss threw a 40-yard pass to De’Zhaun Stribling on third-and-5 with 26 seconds left, leading to Carneiro’s third field goal of the game.
A backwards pass into the end zone on Georgia’s ensuing kickoff return went into the end zone, resulting in a safety with one second left.
Chambliss threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns and Kewan Lacy rushed for 99 yards and two scores for Ole Miss (13-1), which will face No. 10 Miami in a semifinal game at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.
Ole Miss’ Harrison Wallace III made nine receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown, and Stribling hauled in seven catches for 122 yards.
Gunner Stockton threw for 215 yards and a touchdown for Georgia (12-2), which saw its second straight season end in the quarterfinals in New Orleans.
After Georgia held a nine-point halftime lead, Bulldogs kicker Peyton Woodring had a 55-yard field-goal attempt come up short with 8:33 left in the third. From there, Lacy’s 7-yard touchdown rush cut the Rebels’ deficit to 21-19.
Facing a fourth-and-5 from its own 30-yard line, Georgia’s Landon Roldan connected with Lawson Luckie for 16 yards on a fake punt. Woodring’s 37-yarder then put the Bulldogs ahead by five.
Ole Miss took its first lead of the second half as Lacy’s 5-yard touchdown rush was followed with Chambliss’ two-point conversion pass to Wallace, giving the Rebels a 27-24 lead with 11:29 left in the fourth.
Georgia took another gamble on its next drive, going for it on fourth-and-2 from its own 33-yard line. Stockton was sacked, leading to Chambliss’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Wallace, pushing Ole Miss’ lead to 34-24 with 9:02 remaining.
The Bulldogs pulled within three as Stockton’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch stamped a 75-yard scoring drive that lasted just 1:59.
After forcing a punt, Georgia faced a fourth-and-9 on its 48, and Stockton connected with Branch for 16 yards. A pair of Ole Miss pass interference penalties set Georgia up with a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line, but the Rebels held the Bulldogs to a game-tying 24-yard field goal from Woodring with 56 seconds left.
Carneiro made field goals from 55 and 56 yards in the first quarter, both setting the Sugar Bowl record.
–Field Level Media
