A Georgia-Ole Miss rematch provides ample intrigue to their CFP quarterfinal clash at the Sugar Bowl

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Having proved they could win as a favorite without ex-coach Lane Kiffin in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the No. 6 Mississippi Rebels face a tougher test against No. 3 Georgia in a quarterfinal matchup at the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night.

Georgia (12-1, CFP No. 3 seed) was the only team this season to defeat Ole Miss (12-1, CFP No. 6 seed) when they met in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 18. But that game was a thriller, with the Rebels leading after three quarters before the Bulldogs stormed back with 17 unanswered points in the fourth for a 43-35 victory.

The winner of the rematch moves on to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for a CFP semifinal against 10th-seeded Miami, which defeated Ohio State, 24-14, in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night.

For the Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart, last year’s Sugar Bowl brought a heavy dose of sadness that had more to do with life — and the loss of it — than football.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2025, Georgia players and coaches were in a hotel just a few blocks up Canal Street from where an attacker turned right onto Bourbon Street and plowed his truck into pedestrians — killing 14 — before dying in a shootout with police.

After the Sugar Bowl was delayed by a day, causing a number of traveling fans to miss the game, Georgia lost to Notre Dame. Then Smart’s father, Sonny, who’d injured his hip in a fall on New Year’s Eve, died in a New Orleans-area hospital from complications during surgery.

This year, there was a considerable law enforcement presence in New Orleans in the days before the Sugar Bowl, including numerous National Guard soldiers posted in groups on corners of the historic French Quarter.

The Rebels, who are in the CFP for the first time, went 11-1 during the regular season before Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30.

Kiffin was replaced by Pete Golding, a feisty defensive coordinator who made his head-coaching debut in a 41-10 rout of Tulane in the CFP’s first round.

Golding also happens to be from Hammond, Louisiana, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, and he was eager to have a sizeable contingent of Ole Miss fans, family and friends behind his team in the Superdome.

While Georgia has been a perennial powerhouse and has won two national titles under Smart in 2021 and 2022, the Rebels exceeded expectations as quarterback Trinidad Chambliss became one of the most compelling stories in college football.

Chambliss was a transfer from Division II Ferris State who came in as an injury replacement in September and kept the starting job, passing for 3,298 yards and 19 TDs to go with 506 yards and eight TDs rushing.

Georgia QB Gunner Stockton, who made his first career start as an injury replacement himself during last years' Sugar Bowl, also had a strong season, passing for 2,691 yards and 23 TDs while also rushing for 442 yards and eight TDs.

Last season, Stockton backed up Carson Beck, who has since transferred to Miami. The Hurricanes' victory in the Cotton Bowl meant Georgia could go against their former star QB by advancing out of the Sugar Bowl.

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