NEW ORLEANS — For much of Thursday night’s Sugar Bowl showdown with Georgia, it looked as if Ole Miss’ dream football season was careening toward a rude wake-up call. Luckily for Rebel fans, Trinidad Chambliss found the snooze button. The Ole Miss quarterback put together a performance for the ages, passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns to rally his team to a stunning 39-34 win over the SEC Champion Bulldogs. Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (6) warms up before the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game between Georgia and Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert With the win, the Rebels (13-1) punched their ticket to the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff, where they’ll face Miami in the Fiesta Bowl next Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. And if that round goes anything like the second one did, the Magnolia State may have to invest in more respirators. Down 9 points at the half, the Rebels scored back-to-back touchdowns to open the fourth quarter and held off a fierce Georgia rally. Chambliss was the star — the senior passed for 362 yards and two touchdowns — but there were no shortages of heroic performances. Despite coming in as a six-point underdog Ole Miss out-gained Georgia 473 yards to 343, and won despite several bad breaks. Mississippi tight end Luke Hasz (9) scores a touchdown against Georgia defensive back Rasean Dinkins (27) during the first half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert The Rebels settled for field goals on two of their first three possessions in the first quarter, taking an early 6-0 lead. Georgia’s splendid quarterback Gunner Stockton responded with scoring runs to cap back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives and put Georgia ahead 14-12. Ole Miss was driving to take the lead back before the halftime break, but Georgia defender Daylen Everette scooped up a rare fumble from Ole Miss tailback Kewan Lacy and raced 47 yards to extend the Georgia lead to 21-12. Mississippi running back Kewan Lacy (5) runs on fourth down against Georgia during the second half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert “We definitely didn’t play our cleanest football in the first half on either side of the ball,” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said. “I kind of challenged them at halftime and said, you know, look, we were up nine on these guys going into the fourth quarter last time. Let’s play 30 minutes of football and out-physical them and execute. They just responded like they have all year.” The Rebels traded a touchdown — a fumble-redeeming seven-yard bruising run for Lacy — for a Georgia field goal in the third quarter to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-19. Mississippi running back Kewan Lacy (5) scores a touchdown against Georgia during the second half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert That’s when the real fun started. Lacy’s second touchdown came on a five-yard run and put Ole Miss ahead 27-24 with 11:29 to go. Georgia coach Kirby Smart rolled the dice on the Bulldogs’ ensuing possession, opting to try to convert a 4th-and-2 situation at the Georgia 33-yard line. Stockton rolled to his right looking for a receiver downfield, but didn’t see Ole Miss defender Suntarine Perkins coming from his blind side. Perkins drilled Stockton for a sack, forcing a fumble which he recovered at the Bulldogs’ 23-yard line. Georgia running back Nate Frazier (3) runs against Mississippi safety TJ Banks (7) during the first half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert “We knew that was going to be a big play in the game,” Ole Miss defensive MVP Will Echoles said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised, but Perkins made a great play.” The turnover set Ole Miss up with a short field, and Chambliss cashed it in two plays later with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Wallace to put Ole Miss ahead 34-24 with nine minutes left. But the Bulldogs had a response of their own: a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that trimmed the Ole Miss lead down to three, at 34-31 with 7:03 to go. They tied the game with 56 seconds left on a 24-yard Peyton Woodring field goal. Luckily, Chambliss had a little magic left in his back pocket.  Mississippi wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling (1) leaps over Georgia defensive back Adrian Maddox (14) during the second half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Matthew Hinton Facing a third-and-five at his own 30, the senior found receiver De’Zhaun Stribling streaking down the home sideline for a 40-yard completion that gave the Rebels a new set of downs at the Georgia 30. Two plays later, Ole Miss’ splendid kicker Lucas Carniero drilled a 47-yard field goal to regain the lead, 37-34, with just six seconds left. Georgia tried a trick play on the ensuing kickoff and lateraled the ball out of bounds on their own goal-line, giving Ole Miss two points for a safety and extending the lead to 39-34. Mississippi players celebrate a win over Georgia after the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert Georgia got the ball back on an onside kick, but a final play that featured 11 laterals ended with a 12-yard loss and Ole Miss storming the field. It was a strange, almost surreal ending to a marvelously competitive game. “It was an incredible college football game,” Smart said. “It’s what the college football playoff was built for, to have battles like that.” Mississippi platers and coach celebrate a win against Georgia after the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in New Orleans. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert ...read more read less