NEW ORLEANS — Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and his teammates have been saying for weeks that they have the chemistry, talent and confidence to carry on in the College Football Playoff without former coach Lane Kiffin.
Unlikely as that may have sounded at first when Kiffin left to take over at Southeastern Conference border rival LSU on Nov. 30, two days after the regular-season finale for Ole Miss, there’s been little evidence to the contrary.
The Rebels, having dramatically vanquished SEC champion Georgia in a Sugar Bowl for the ages on New Year’s Day, are moving on to the CFP semifinals and preparing for a Fiesta Bowl date with Miami next Thursday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“It’s a super tough group,” Pete Golding — who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach as Kiffin’s replacement — said after the sixth-ranked, sixth-seeded Rebels (13-1) walked off of the Superdome field with a 39-34 victory over second-ranked, third-seeded Georgia. “They’ve got a lot of grit, and they love playing football, and they’re not tired of it.”
Georgia, the only team to beat Ole Miss this season — the Bulldogs won 43-35 in Athens back in October — was favored by nearly a touchdown in the rematch and led by nine at halftime. The Rebels rallied to take a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, but they still needed late-game poise by their defense, a big throw by Chambliss and a clutch kick by Lucas Carneiro to pull it out.
Georgia scored 10 straight points in the last 7:03, but the Bulldogs were threatening to score a go-ahead touchdown when the Ole Miss defense held them to a tying field goal with 55 seconds left.
Then, on third-and-5 from his own 30, Chambliss delivered an accurate deep ball to De’Zhaun Stribling for a 40-yard gain to set up Carneiro’s decisive 47-yard field goal with six seconds left. A safety on the ensuing kickoff completed the scoring in the final seconds.
Kiffin, who wanted to continue coaching the Rebels in the postseason after accepting the LSU job but was not permitted to do so by Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, spent part of New Year’s Day being introduced to the crowd at an LSU women’s basketball game by coach Kim Mulkey.
Later, he posted a message of encouragement to his former team on social media: “Only two more to go.”
And since Kiffin flew out of Oxford on a private jet supplied by LSU, “Everybody stayed together and bought in and nobody got frustrated,” Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins said. “I’m really excited about what this group has accomplished this season.”
Ahead now is what seemed an unlikely semifinal when the 12-team bracket was revealed last month, as well as a quarterback showdown that could hardly be more of a study in contrast in terms of their backgrounds.
Miami’s Carson Beck is a high-paid, high-profile transfer known for his taste in luxury European automobiles, a sixth-year senior who headed home to the Sunshine State after five years at Georgia, where he was the starter for the Bulldogs his final two seasons after being a backup on national championship teams in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
In helping the No. 10 Hurricanes (12-2) of the Atlantic Coast Conference deliver a pair of CFP victories at No. 8 Texas A&M on Dec. 20 and against third-ranked, second-seeded reigning national champion Ohio State of the Big Ten in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Eve, he’s fulfilling the promise with which he returned to his native Florida, where he was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of Jacksonville’s Mandarin High School.
One more victory will give Beck and the Hurricanes a chance to compete for a national title at Hard Rock Stadium — where they play their home games during the season — on Jan. 19.
Meanwhile, the scintillating Chambliss has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the most compelling stories in all of college football, with his standout showing in the Sugar Bowl just the latest chapter.
In the 2024 season, Chambliss played at Division II member Ferris State in his native Michigan. Before that, he said, he nearly quit football in favor of playing point guard for a Division III basketball program. After leading Ferris State to a national championship in football, he took an offer to be a projected backup at Ole Miss this season.
An injury to starter Austin Simmons thrust Chambliss into the spotlight, and his ability to run circles around frustrated pass rushers while finding receivers breaking open downfield made him such a hit in Oxford that fans there began flying flags of his namesake Caribbean island nation, Trinidad & Tobago.
“Sometimes I’ve got to pinch myself,” Chambliss said. “I never really thought I’d get to this point, to be honest, because I did have some doubt at Ferris State if football is really for me.
“It’s been a crazy ride so far.”
Next stop: Glendale, Arizona.