Georgia stunned by Ole Miss on game-winning field goal for second straight season-ending Sugar Bowl loss | Highlights

NEW ORLEANS — Kicking off on the heels of two lopsided CFP quarterfinals at the Orange and Rose bowls, the Sugar Bowl provided drama until the end.

After seeing a 21-12 halftime lead turn into a 34-24 deficit with 9:02 to play, Georgia (12-2, CFP No. 3 seed) then rallied to tie it, first driving for Gunner Stockton’s 18-yard TD pass to Zachariah Branch before Peyton Woodring’s short field goal tied it with 55 seconds left in regulation.

Chambliss responded by setting up the winning kick with a 40-yard pass to De’Zhaun Stribling on third down from Mississippi’s own 30-yard line. A few plays later, Carneiro, who’d already broken Sugar Bowl records with field goals of 55 and 56 yards, hit from 47 and sprinted triumphantly toward the Ole Miss sideline as the Rebels (13-1, CFP No. 6 seed) jubilantly swarmed around him.

Ole Miss got a safety on the ensuing kickoff debacle by Georgia and won by a final of 39-34.

This game meant a lot for Georgia beyond just Ole Miss. The Sugar Bowl was a personal checkpoint for them. Last year, they were the No. 2 seed and got bounced in this exact round by Notre Dame, which was a shock. 

They were back in the same spot, same bowl, facing a team coming off a first-round win, and trying to get back to the semifinals for the first time since the 2022–23 season. But for the second straight season, Georgia’s season came to an end with a Sugar Bowl loss.

Georgia won the toss and elected to defer to the second half — meaning Ole Miss will receive and get the ball first. HERE WE GO!

-Two possessions in, and both teams have punted. Brett Thorson, the Ray Guy Award winner for the best punter in all of college football, pinned Ole Miss at the two-yard line.

-Ole Miss drives down the field with QB Trinidad Chambliss, and after a big Dawgs stop on third down, Rebels kicker Lucas Carneiro drilled a 55-yard field goal, a career high for him to make it 3-0 Ole Miss.

After another productive Ole Miss drive, Carneiro drills yet ANOTHER long-range field goal, this time easily connecting from 56 yards.

Georgia finally got back to what they did best against Ole Miss back in October, which is pounding the rock. A seven-play, 75-yard drive was highlighted by 62 yards on the ground and capped off by a Gunner Stockton 12-yard touchdown rush.

Ole Miss answers right back with an eight-play, 75-yard drive and comes through big on 3rd & Goal with a three-yard touchdown. They went for two to try to make it a seven-point game but did not convert.

But Georgia answers right back with a more methodical drive. A 12-play, 75-yard drive was capped off by a big 3rd & 12 conversion with a 26-yard pass to Cash Jones who showed some shifty moves after Stockton got ROCKED on the pass, and Stockton with his second touchdown rush of the night with a quarterback sneak.

AND JUST LIKE THAT, GEORGIA GOES UP 21-12! A Kewan Lacy fumble was picked up by CB Daylen Everette and returned 46 yards for a Dawgs touchdown.

A highly-controversial call sent social media into a frenzy on Thursday night after Georgia safety JaCorey Thomas was ejected for targeting in the Sugar Bowl on a play where he hit the Ole Miss wide receiver with his shoulder, not his helmet.

Georgia fans were even more upset after a no-call blow that QB Gunner Stockton took shortly before, as an Ole Miss defender seemed to launch at him and deliver a massive hit after he had thrown the ball and the pass was delivered.

Let’s take a look at the ejection of Thomas first though from multiple angles.

Here’s the play in question:

Here’s what the targeting rule says. Thoughts on the call?

Ole Miss had bad clock management on the final play of the half, as the receiver did not go out of bounds on the last play, and the Rebels did not have time to get a field goal off and Georgia led 21-12 at halftime.

After a missed 55-yard field goal from Georgia kicker Peyton Woodring, Ole Miss marches down the field in 63 yards on seven plays to cut the lead to 21-19.

FAKE PUNT! Georgia executes a fake punt to perfection on 4th & 5, with Cash Jones delivering a 16-yard pass to Lawson Luckie for the first down. Georgia was able to get points with a 37-yard field goal from Woodring.

In a drive that just completely exposed Georgia’s secondary, Ole Miss goes 75 plays in eight yards and scores the go-ahead touchdown, before converting the two-point conversion to go up a field goal, 27-24.

Georgia goes for it on 4th down, and the offense looks completely confused and Stockton is sacked and fumbles. Ole Miss scores a touchdown to go up 34-24.

For the first time all half, Georgia’s offense looks competent and they also get the ball to WR Zachariah Branch for the first time all half, capitalizing with an 18-yard touchdown from Stockton to Branch.

Ole Miss hits a game-winning 47-yard field goal with just six seconds left to secure its upset victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss got a safety on the ensuing kickoff debacle by Georgia and won by a final of 39-34.