Pete Golding reveals how Ole Miss beat Georgia in Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal

NEW ORLEANS — Pete Golding went from a cursing curiosity in the coaching ranks to taking on legendary status in Ole Miss football history Thursday night.

Golding, in only his second game as the Rebels head coach since being promoted from defensive coordinator after Lane Kiffin took the LSU job Nov. 30, took down a coach in Kirby Smart whose track record is unparalleled by any active coach.

Ole Miss scored a 39-34 win over two-time defending SEC champion Georgia in the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal on Thursday night.

And Golding did it after the Rebels trailed 21-12 at halftime and 24-19 entering the fourth quarter against a coach who had previously won 53 consecutive games when leading at halftime and 75 in a row when ahead entering the fourth quarter.

“We weren’t really concerned from a scheme standpoint,” said Golding, whose defense was lit up by Georgia in the teams’ first meeting, a 43-35 Bulldogs win Oct. 18 in Athens. “Then offensively, they didn’t stop us in the first half. We turned one over, and then did a poor job, obviously, with the clock (management) at the end of the half to not get three.

“I told them all, ‘Take a deep breath, let’s go play one at a time,’” Golding said of his halftime speech. “We’ve got good enough players.”

Indeed, the Rebels do, and now they will advance to play Miami in the CFP Fiesta Bowl semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, with hopes of winning that game and facing the winner of the CFP Chick-fil-A Bowl semifinal (7:30 p.m., Jan. 9) for the national championship.

Golding, for all his casual and humble postgame talk, had the better game plan of the two coaches, and had his players prepared to execute it.

“I think the biggest thing in this game was the third downs,” Golding revealed after the game. “Having them in long third downs so we can get our pass rushers on the field and let them rush.”

Indeed, Georgia was just 3-for-13 on third-down plays — including 0-for-2 on third-and-shorts (4 yards or less) — averaging 7.3 yards to go on third down.

It led to two Ole Miss sacks (UGA had none), and nine tackles for loss by the Rebels (Georgia had only three).

Golding pointed out that one of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns came on a defensive scoop-and-score by Daylen Everette, so the Ole Miss defense only allowed three touchdowns.

“My big thing coming into the game … we wanted to contest every play, so what I mean by contesting every play … everybody’s on the same page,” Golding said, referring to his defenders being sound on assignments and properly aligned against UGA’s myriad formations, motions and shifts.

“When you have busts versus good teams, you’re going to get beat.”

Ole Miss kept that at a minimum on defense, and the result was an inconsistent Georgia offensive performance, and a bottled-up Gunner Stockton (13 rush attempts, 20 yards).

Golding turned his quarterback Trinidad Chambliss loose, and the transfer from Ferris State lit up the Bulldogs’ defense, 30-of-46 passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns, taking no sacks and avoiding turnovers.