The College Football Playoff semifinal field is set, and for the first time in history the Ole Miss Rebels will feature in it.
With their Sugar Bowl win against the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs on New Year’s Day, the No. 6 Rebels earned the right to face the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl and are two wins away from their first national championship in 64 years.
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Which means Ole Miss and Rebels coach Pete Golding have twice as many CFP victories as Oklahoma — with 4 fewer appearances. It means former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin will earn $500,000 in bonuses from LSU for work he didn’t carry out within the postseason.
And people aren’t even my high 4 takeaways from this CFP quarterfinal thriller between Ole Miss and Georgia, however these are:
1. Trinidad Chambliss steps up once more on a giant stage
(Picture by Sean Gardner/Getty Pictures)
Nobody anticipated Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to be this good, however he wanted an otherworldly effort to convey Mississippi again.
And he delivered.
Going through a double-digit deficit to Georgia, Chambliss put the Rebels on his again and lifted them to a 39-34 Sugar Bowl victory — plus their first berth within the School Soccer Playoff semifinals — at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Chambliss is the person who marred Georgia coach Kirby Good’s 4-0 report in rematches in opposition to opponents confronted earlier within the yr with a loss.
He entered the Sugar Bowl with 3,406 whole yards within the common season — fourth most as a starter in FBS, and he didn’t begin a recreation till the Rebels’ third recreation this season.
He is also the most recent in a convention of dual-threat quarterbacks at Ole Miss to throw for a minimum of 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the identical recreation, following his 307 passing yards and 112 dashing yards in opposition to Tulane within the Rebels’ first-round CFP look and first win within the playoff. Solely Archie Manning (1969), Chad Kelly (2015) and Jordan Ta’amu (2018) have thrown for 300 and rushed for 100 in the identical recreation for Mississippi.
Chambliss proved as soon as once more to be an elite passer together with his eighth 300-yard passing outing this season and his second-straight within the CFP. And he’s carried out it with a devastating group of receivers.
Ole Miss is the one program within the SEC with 5 receivers every averaging a minimum of 40 yards receiving per recreation in 2025.
The transfer by Golding and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. to place the sport squarely again into the arms of their quarterback within the second half led to the emergence of Ole Miss receiver Trey Wallace as a star in a recreation that was rolling out of attain. Together with his ninth reception, he eclipsed 156 receiving yards, and his landing catch was the thirteenth consecutive completion thrown by Chambliss to a Mississippi receiver.
Chambliss’ stat line reads: 30 of 46 for 362 passing yards with two touchdowns. However these numbers belie his brilliance as a magician within the pocket, extending performs that ought to’ve resulted in Georgia sacks or worse. Within the second half, these 13 consecutive passes make him the primary participant to finish 12 or extra consecutive passes in opposition to an AP top-5 opponent since Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton did the identical in opposition to Ole Miss when the 2 met in October.
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2. The legend of Gunner Stockton will proceed to develop — simply not now
(Picture by Chris Graythen/Getty Pictures)
Only a few people anticipated the Georgia passer to be this good. That is very true in opposition to ranked opponents. With Stockton at quarterback, the Bulldogs walked into the Caesars Superdome with a 5-1 report in opposition to ranked opponents this season. Within the fourth quarter in opposition to these ranked opponents — AKA “Successful Time” — Stockton had accomplished 29 of 32 passes for 319 yards with six touchdowns and 0 interceptions by means of 13 video games.
Importantly, in opposition to Ole Miss earlier this season, Stockton led a comeback win with an ideal passing show within the third and fourth quarters: 12 of 12 for 135 yards with three touchdowns. That efficiency helped Georgia overcome the 35-26 deficit it confronted within the second half and made Stockton the primary quarterback to go 12 for 12 in a single half in opposition to an AP Prime 5 opponent since Aaron Rodgers did the identical at Cal in opposition to No. 1 USC in 2004.
His expertise beginning in final yr’s Sugar Bowl, a 23-10 win in opposition to No. 5 Notre Dame, confirmed itself early in opposition to the Rebels. He rushed for every of Georgia’s first two touchdowns.
He additionally stood within the face of Rebels defender Chris Graves Jr. closing like a freight prepare powered by 1.21 gigawatts of electrical energy, on third-and-12 with 4:40 left to go within the second quarter, received cracked by Graves, and accomplished a cross that completed 26 yards downfield. That play arrange the second landing of the night time for the Bulldogs.
Nevertheless, that was pretty much as good as it could get for Stockton and the Georgia offense in opposition to Ole Miss this time round. He completed with 15 of 31 completions for 219 yards with a landing.
[MORE CFP: 4 Takeaways From Oregon’s Shutout Win vs. Texas Tech in the CFP Quarterfinals]
3. Teaching blunders on every sideline have been gut-wrenching
(Picture by Chris Graythen/Getty Pictures)
First, there was the fumble by Ole Miss operating again Kewan Lacy that led to a defensive rating for the Bulldogs. Subsequent, Ole Miss mismanaged the clock late within the first half, robbing itself of the prospect to shut the arrears to a single scoring act. How? The Rebels missed the chance to run the place-kicking unit onto the sector as a result of Ole Miss receiver Dae’Quan Wright merely forgot to step out of bounds after his 8-yard achieve had moved the ball to the Georgia 35-yard line as time wound down.
The Bulldogs protection scored as many touchdowns within the first half because the Rebels offense after Georgia defensive again Daylen Everette picked up a bouncing ball that popped out of Lacy’s arms and returned it to the top zone for six. With the additional level — and a failed two-point conversion try by Ole Miss — the defensive rating allowed Georgia to take a 21-12 lead with 2:34 left to play within the first half.
A degree thrown away on a failed two-point conversion. A 12-point swing on Everette’s scoop-and-score. A missed likelihood to take three factors late. That is 16 factors Ole Miss gave away within the first half alone.
Mississippi gamers jogged into the locker room missing the flexibility to cease the clock.
Then, on Ole Miss’ first possession of the second half, Golding selected to go for it on fourth-and-1 and let the offensive coordinator take the ball out of Chambliss’ arms, solely to look at Lacy get stuffed behind the road of scrimmage on a direct-snap dive.
These two performs alone are sufficient to damage most groups’ probabilities to defeat a Kirby Good-coached Georgia crew.
[MORE CFP: 4 Takeaways From Indiana’s Rose Bowl Demolition of Alabama in CFP Quarterfinal]
And within the fourth quarter — the identical quarter the Bulldogs shut out Ole Miss within the groups’ first assembly — Chambliss received the ball in his arms.
First, he closed the space between his crew and Georgia’s with a 36-yard strike to arrange a landing. Simply contained in the fourth quarter, he escaped three sacks that seemed like sure demise for the Bulldogs on a drive that gave Ole Miss the lead 27-24 with a two-point conversion that really labored. And the comeback was on.
Down by simply three, Good’s determination to make a hockey-line change from his punt unit to his offensive one on fourth-and-2 with 9:40 left to play from the Georgia 33-yard line didn’t catch Golding’s punt or defensive unit off-guard. However Stockton’s snap-count appeared to shock his personal crew. When the ball was snapped, the left aspect of the Georgia offensive line didn’t transfer, and Ole Miss edge rusher Suntarine Perkins sacked Stockton to not solely create the turnover-on-downs but additionally a brief discipline for the most popular quarterback within the playoff.
Ole Miss wanted simply three performs to take a double-digit lead with 9:02 left. In the end, it took Lucas Carneiro’s 47-yard discipline aim with 9 seconds left to play to seal the win. However Good’s determination to go for it on fourth-down late — after utilizing his trick play card earlier with a pretend punt conversion — made Ole Miss’ lead insurmountable.
4. Three groups can win the nationwide title for the primary time within the trendy period
(Picture by Sean Gardner/Getty Pictures)
The CFP semifinals function three groups that haven’t received a nationwide title within the trendy period: Ole Miss, No. 5 Oregon and No. 1 Indiana. The Geese and Hoosiers can be trying to win their first-ever, and Mississippi is 2 wins away from its first since 1962.
Miami has received a nationwide title within the twenty first century, however simply barely. 2001 is the final time the Hurricanes stood atop the remainder of school soccer.
Regardless of who wins the CFP nationwide championship this yr, the story would be the similar, although. There has by no means been a semifinal spherical fairly like this one with so many “new” gamers so near clutching glory.
RJ Younger is a nationwide school soccer author and analyst for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him @RJ_Young.
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