NEW ORLEANS No. 6 Ole Miss surprised No. 3 Georgia by winning 39–34 on a 47-yard field goal as time ran out in a game that will go down in Cotton Bowl history. With six seconds remaining, Lucas Carneiro, who had missed the same kick in a practice drill the day before, drilled the game-winning goal to advance the Rebels to the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 362 yards and repeatedly kept drives alive when they mattered most in this thrilling back-and-forth game. With 32 seconds left on third and five, Chambliss’s 40-yard strike to De’Zhaun Stribling set up Carneiro’s opportunity, which turned the tide of the game in the Rebels’ favor.
Off the field, the plot added more drama: following Lane Kiffin’s unexpected transfer to LSU, Ole Miss has experienced a significant turnover in its coaching staff in recent weeks. After guiding the team through the turmoil in his first games as acting head coach, defensive coordinator Pete Golding now has back-to-back playoff wins. Although players took care to minimize the “destiny” narrative, the outcome cannot be disregarded.
Big plays and tension were prevalent throughout the game. Georgia put up a fierce fight, but Ole Miss’s tenacity and a special-teams moment that relied on poise and repetition won out. After the game, Golding made a joke about how Carneiro “got his mulligans out” in practice before making the game-winning boot.
The win propels Ole Miss into the semifinals of the Fiesta Bowl, where it will face No. 10 Miami next. For a Rebels’ program that has been spending most of the year answering doubters and being subjected to reality-show like developments in its coaching staff, a semifinal appearance in the CFP is a statement in and of itself.
The upcoming matchup against No. 10 Miami presents a significant opportunity for Ole Miss to capitalize on their recent success. As the Rebels prepare for the semifinal round, they aim to harness the momentum generated by their last-second victory. For Georgia, this defeat marks a disappointing conclusion to a season filled with aspirations for glory, highlighting the razor-thin margins that define high-stakes college football. The intensity of the rivalry and the stakes of the CFP will undoubtedly set the stage for a captivating contest.