New Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding remained undefeated Thursday night at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, where the Rebels won a 39-34 thriller over Georgia to advance to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
They won outright as six-point underdogs, hooking up money-line backers with a payout in the +180 to +190 range. The 73 combined points went ‘over’ the 53.5-point total with 9:02 remaining.
Ole Miss improved to 13-1 straight up and 9-5 against the spread, setting up Thursday’s Fiesta Bowl matchup versus Miami at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.
As of early Friday afternoon, most books had the Hurricanes installed as three-point favorites with a total of 51.5 or 52. The Rebels had +130 money-line odds.
Miami (12-2 SU, 9-5 ATS) beat Ohio St. 24-14 as a 7.5-point underdog at Wednesday’s Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX.
Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro buried field goals from 55 and 56 yards out in the first quarter to give his team a 6-0 lead, but Georgia went in front 7-6 on quarterback Gunner Stockton’s 12-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Golding’s team answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by QB Trinidad Chambliss finding TE Luke Hasz for a three-yard TD pass.
With 4:05 remaining in the second quarter, Stockton got into the end zone again with a one-yard TD run to put UGA ahead 14-12 since the Rebels had previously gone for two and failed. Next, the Bulldogs’ Elijah Griffin stripped Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy and Daylen Everette scooped up the fumble and raced 47 yards for a TD to give UGA a 21-12 advantage.
Lacy made up for the fumble with a seven-yard TD run with 4:51 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-19. After Georgia kicker Peyton Woodring buried a 37-yard field goal, the Rebels took the lead back on Lacy’s five-yard TD run with 11:29 remaining. Chambliss hit Harrison Wallace on the two-point conversion attempt to give Ole Miss a 27-24 lead.
Moments later, Kirby Smart elected to go for it on a fourth-and-two play from UGA’s own 33. Ole Miss DE Suntarine Perkins sacked Stockton for a 10-yard loss and recovered Stockton’s fumble at the UGA 23. The Rebels took advantage when Chambliss found Wallace for a 13-yard TD pass with 9:02 remaining.
Trailing 34-24, UGA needed only six plays and 1:59 to make it a three-point game on Stockton’s 18-yard TD pass to WR Zachariah Branch. The Bulldogs’ defense needed a three and out in the worst way and produced just that, setting the offense up at its own 36 with 5:26 left.
UGA went 58 yards in 12 plays but Stockton’s pass to TE Oscar Delp on third and goal was incomplete. Woodring was good from 24 yards out to tie the game at 34-34 with 56 ticks left.
After a five-yard run by Lacy and an incomplete pass, Ole Miss was looking at a third and five from its own 30 with 26 seconds remaining. That’s when Chambliss connected with WR De’Zhaun Stribling on a 40-yard completion to the UGA 30.
After three incomplete passes, Carneiro was brought on for a 47-yard field-goal attempt. He booted it right down the middle for the clutch game-winning kick.
Chambliss was spectacular all night, completing 30-of-46 passes for 362 yards and two TDs without an interception. Lacy had 98 rushing yards and a pair of TDs on 22 attempts, while Wallace hauled in nine receptions for 156 yards and one TD. Stribling had seven catches for 122 yards.
Zxavian Harris had a team-high 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass broken up for the Rebels. Perkins finished with six tackles, two TFL’s, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one PBU.
In the losing effort, Stockton connected on 18-of-31 throws for 203 yards and one TD without an interception. He added 20 rushing yards and two TDs on 13 attempts, while RB Nate Frazier went for 86 rushing yards on 15 carries and had three receptions for 42 yards. Branch had eight catches for 67 yards and one TD.
“A lot of people did doubt us before the season and they still doubted us when our coach left,” Chambliss said. “We just want to play ball and have fun, and I think that’s showing right now.”
“I’m sick that we lost, and there’s things I would love to go back and do differently,” Smart said. “But I’m just so proud of the way our guys competed.”
Ole Miss went into the fourth quarter with a 35-26 lead at Georgia back on Oct. 18, but the Bulldogs outscored Lane Kiffin’s team 17-0 in the fourth quarter and posted a front door cover in the 43-35 win as a 7.5-point home favorite.
But this isn’t Kiffin’s team anymore. It belongs to Golding, who held his own and then some against Smart, who many consider to be the top coach in college football since Nick Saban retired.
“They’re never scared and they don’t panic, and that’s what I love about this group,” Golding said of his players. “They don’t ever get too high; they don’t get too low. They want to get coached. They want to get coached hard, and they want another opportunity.”
They’ll be getting at least one more opportunity, possibly two, as Golding tries to become college football’s modern version of Steve Fisher, who led Michigan’s basketball team to the 1989 national championship after taking over for Bill Frieder, the coach who accepted an offer to take over at Arizona St. and wasn’t allowed to coach the Wolverines in the 1989 NCAA Tournament.
A month ago, Kiffin left Oxford to take the LSU gig. He turned his back on his players and a CFP team to take a job with a bitter rival.
Harris told reporters after the game, “He’s been trying to steal our shine. All of our coaches could leave now and we’d still operate as a close team. We are our own team. Coaches can only do so much.”
Harris later added, “I heard [Kiffin] was trying to get [on TV] with the announcers [at the game]. We’re not worried about Kiffin. Kiffin gone.”
Now the big question is whether Kiffin’s six assistants that have been hired by LSU – but have coached Ole Miss in the two CFP games – will be allowed to remain with the Rebels for the Miami game.
When asked about those LSU-bound assistants like offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and their availability moving forward by Yahoo Sports last night, Ole Miss AD Keith Carter said, “I don’t know.”
What we do know is that last night was one of the best in the history of Ole Miss sports. Despite all the drama and heartache caused by Kiffin’s departure, the Rebels are one of only four college football teams that still have a pulse, and they’re 60 minutes away from playing for a national championship for the first time in more than 60 years.