The Ole Miss-Georgia instant classic in the Sugar Bowl descended into a bit of chaos in the final seconds — leading to the College Football Playoff quarterfinal needing two reviews and two extra plays to finally see it end.
Ole Miss took the three-point lead on a 47-yard field goal by Lucas Carneiro with six seconds remaining at the Caesars Superdome on Thursday night.
And Carneiro’s ensuing 65-yard kickoff was fumbled and went out of bounds in the end zone for a safety to put Ole Miss up 39-34 — the score the Rebels ended up winning the quarterfinal by.
The Rebels and Superdome operators believed the game was over. Confetti started flying, and the players and coaches began celebrating on the field.
But the referees correctly did not let the game end there. They went to a review to see if any time was left when the safety occurred before pushing both teams back to the sidelines to put one second back on the clock.
Peyton Woodring of Georgia’s safety free kick was then recovered by a teammate at the Bulldogs’ 31-yard line.
Again, Ole Miss believed it could celebrate reaching the semifinals against Miami, even giving head coach Pete Golding — in his second game since taking over after Lance Kiffin left for LSU — the usual Gatorade bath. The trophy presentation stage started making its way onto the field.
But it had to be pushed back off it as the refs tried to explain to a livid Golding and former Giants coach Joe Judge (Ole Miss’s quarterbacks coach) that because Georgia just fell down on a ball after it went 10 yards, meaning the second did not run off the clock.
“Matt, this is feeling like an excruciating ending to a classic game,” ESPN play-by-playman Sean McDonagh asked rules expert Matt Austin. “Does common sense need to prevail here?”
Austin countered that the rules had to be followed.
The Bulldogs would get one last desperate play. Thankfully for Ole Miss, Georgia’s series of laterals went nowhere before quarterback Gunner Stockton was tackled to finally end the game for real.
Georgia was actually called for an illegal block penalty that was declined, as Ole Miss is now two wins away from its first national championship since sharing the crown with Minnesota in 1960.
