UGA Football Falls in Sugar Bowl to Ole Miss Rebels | Dawgs End Season at 12-2

NEW ORLEANS — The No. 3-ranked Georgia football team’s season came to an end late Thursday night in a 39-34 loss to No. 6 Ole Miss in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff in the Caesars Superdome.

In a dramatic Allstate Sugar Bowl, Rebels kicker Lucas Carneiro kicked a 47-yard field goal with six seconds left to break a 34-34 tie. Georgia tried a backward pass across the field on the ensuing kickoff and the ball went out of bounds off an end zone pylon, resulting in a safety. The Bulldogs, the SEC champions for the second year in a row, ended their season with a record of 12-2.

Georgia led 21-12 at the half, but the Rebels were able to rally and go ahead 34-24 in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs came back with 10 straight points to tie the game, but came up short at the end. 

In the first meeting this season between the Bulldogs and Rebels, on Oct. 18 in Sanford Stadium, Georgia, which never punted in the game, scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 43-35 win. On Thursday, Ole Miss (13-1) outscored the Bulldogs 20-10 in the final period.

Ole Miss struck first, taking a 3-0 lead with 5:47 left in the first quarter on Carneiro’s career-long 55-yard field goal. On the Rebels’ next drive, after forcing a second Georgia punt, Carneiro connected from one yard farther out, booting a 56-yarder to make it 6-0 Ole Miss with 2:13 to go in the opening period.

Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young, who had been out with a broken leg since the first Ole Miss game, returned for the Sugar Bowl and caught a 13-yard pass from quarterback Gunner Stockton on the ensuing drive. That gave the Bulldogs a first down at the Ole Miss 43-yard line, and Georgia did the rest on the ground. Chauncey Bowens ran for 6, Nate Frazier had runs of 9 and 16 yards, and on first down at the 12, Stockton started to throw the ball before tucking and running for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead with 13:37 left in the half.

The Rebels answered with their first touchdown on the next drive, taking a 12-7 lead on quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ 3-yard pass to Luke Hasz with 10:33 on the clock. Ole Miss went for a two-point conversion and was denied when Georgia defensive lineman Christen Miller tackled Chambliss in the backfield.

Georgia followed that with one of its best drives of the season, converting three third downs, including a third-and-13 and a third-and-12. On the third-and-13, Stockton hit Zachariah Branch for a 15-yard gain; on the third-and-12, Stockton evaded a heavy rush and fired sidearm to running back Cash Jones for 26 yards to the Rebel 1. On the next play, Stockton ran the ball in for a 14-12 lead with 4:05 to go in the half.

The Bulldog defense forced the game’s first turnover on Ole Miss’ next drive and turned it into points. Defensive lineman Elijah Griffin stripped running back Kewan Lacy of the ball, and cornerback Daylen Everette scooped it up and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown, pushing Georgia’s lead to 21-12 with 2:34 left in the second.

Georgia got the ball to start the second half and went three-and-out. The Bulldog defense then stopped the Rebels on fourth-and-1 at the Ole Miss 49, giving the Georgia offense excellent field position. But the Bulldogs came up empty when kicker Peyton Woodring came up just short on a 55-yard field goal attempt.

Ole Miss cut the Georgia lead to 21-19 on Lacy’s 7-yard touchdown run with 4:51 to go in the third. The Rebels converted a fourth-and-3 at the Bulldog 44, completing a 36-yard pass down to the 8; they scored two plays later.

Facing a fourth-and-5 at its 30 on its next drive, Georgia executed a fake punt for a first down. Backup wide receiver Landon Roldan threw a pass to tight end Lawson Luckie for a 16-yard gain. Two plays later, Stockton hit Young for 36 yards to the Ole Miss 23. The drive stalled after that and the Bulldogs had to settle for a Woodring 37-yard field goal, pushing the lead to 24-19 with 30 seconds left in the third.

With 11:29 to go in the game, Ole Miss took a 27-24 lead on Lacy’s 5-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion. The Rebels then sacked Stockton when Georgia went for it on fourth-and-2 from the 33. Ole Miss later scored on a 13-yard pass from Chambliss to Harrison Wallace III, pushing its lead to 34-24 with 9:02 remaining.

Georgia came back on the ensuing drive and cut the lead to 34-31 when Stockton found Branch in the left corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown with 7:03 left in the game. The Bulldog defense then forced a quick three-and-out, and the offense took over at the Georgia 36 with 5:36 to play after an 11-yard Branch punt return.

The Bulldogs moved the ball to their 48, where they faced a fourth-and-9 with 3:13 to play. Stockton hit Branch for a 16-yard gain to keep the drive going, and later had a first down at the 8. Unable to get into the end zone, Georgia’s Woodring tied the game 34-34 with a 24-yard field goal with 55 seconds remaining.

Ole Miss was able to move the ball down into field-goal range and pulled ahead for good on Carneiro’s 47-yarder. The Rebels outgained Georgia 473-344; Stockton finished the game 18-for-31 passing for 204 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for two scores. Safety KJ Bolden led the defense with 10 tackles.