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.
