NEW ORLEANS — A season of Georgia football heroics was upstaged by the best season in Ole Miss’ modern era history.

The Rebels scored a 39-34 win over the Bulldogs (12-2) in the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal on Thursday, rallying from a 21-12 halftime deficit.

Ole Miss (13-1) advances to play Miami (12-2) in the CFP semifinal Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The Fiesta Bowl winner will play the winner of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, which matches Oregon (13-1) against Indiana (14-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Georgia had won 53 straight under Kirby Smart when leading at halftime and 75 in a row when ahead entering the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs, who fell behind 34-24 with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter after the Rebels scored on the heels of a foiled fourth-and-2 attempt from the UGA 33, seemed in position to regain the lead in the final minute.

Georgia pulled within 34-31 on Gunner Stockton’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch with 7:03 remaining.

The defense forced a three-and-out, and Stockton, aided by two Ole Miss pass coverage penalties, drove UGA down to the Rebels 8-yard line with 1:08 left.

Stockton got down to the 3-yard line on a first down run and the Bulldogs had a second-and-goal down three points, putting Ole Miss on the ropes.

But then a Chauncey Bowens run resulted in a 3-yard loss, and after the Rebels used their final timeout with 1:04 left, Georgia opted for a pass play instead of a run.

A run play would have enabled UGA to run the clock down to 16 seconds, and likely led to overtime provided Peyton Woodring connected on a short field goal.

Instead, UGA elected to pass, and Stockton’s incomplete pass attempt to Oscar Delp in the back of the end zone stopped the clock with 59 seconds left.

Woodring connected on the 24-yard field goal with 56 seconds left, but it left plenty of time for Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to move the ball down the field.

“Their quarterback is just incredible ...” Smart said of Chambliss. “They made more plays than we did, out-executed us, out-coached us and out-played us.

Chambliss, 30-of46 passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns, hit De’Zhaun Stribling with a 40-yard pass down to the UGA 30 to get the Rebels in field goal range for Lucas Carneiro.

Carneiro had already made field goals of 55 and 56 yards in the first quarter before nailing the game-winner, a 47-yarder, with six seconds remaining to put Ole Miss up 37-34.

The Bulldogs (12-2) attempted a lateral on the ensuing kick was ruled to have hit the pylon, leading to a safety that provided the final margin.

Stockton finished 18-of-31 passing for 203 yards and had 13 rush attempts (including two sacks) for 20 yards, as much of the game was put on his shoulders.

Ole Miss out-gained Georgia 473-343, while the Rebels defense had more sacks (2-0) and tackles-for-loss (9-3), unexpectedly winning at the line of scrimmage most of the game.

Six of Georgia’s seven SEC regular-season victories were of the come-from-behind variety, including a 43-35 win over Ole Miss in the regular season.

But this time, with the Rebels featuring a new head coach in Pete Golding, who took over when Lane Kiffin accepted the LSU job on Nov. 30, the come-from-behind win went to the other team.

Partisan Powder Blue

Ole Miss fans noticeably out-numbered Georgia fans at Caesars Superdome, catching some off guard who had grown accustomed to witnessing a sea of red at the Bulldogs playoff games in the past.

“It felt like a home game,” Rebels coach Pete Golding said.

Smart agreed.

“Probably more partisan Ole Miss than ours, but it felt like you were on a road game with their atmosphere, and they had the momentum a lot,” Smart said. “It was a back-and-forth game, it was an incredible college football game, it’s what the CFP was built for, to have battles like that, and that was basically every conference game we had this year.

“I felt like every game was like that one, back forth, back forth, plays being made all over and a lot of credit goes to Ole Miss.”

Record breaker

Zachariah Branch finished with a team-high eight catches for 67 yards and a touchdown, setting the school’s single-season record for receptions (81).

Brice Hunter had previous held the record with 76 catches in the 1993 season.

Branch was no less than sensational, making a diving 18-yard touchdown catch with 7:03 remaining to pull UGA within 34-31, and a 16-yard catch on a fourth-and-9 from the Bulldogs’ 48 on the drive that led to Woodring’s game-tying 24-yard field goal.

Fourth-down gambles

Georgia was 2-of-3 converting on fourth downs, most notably executing a daring fake punt call to temporarily remain in control of the game.

The play unfolded on a fourth-and-5 from the UGA 30 with UGA leading 21-19 and 3:38 left in the third quarter.

Cash Jones, in the backfield as a shield blocker, took the snap and flipped to freshman receiver Landon Roldan, who hit Lawson Luckie with a 16-yard pass to sustain the drive

Woodring, who missed a 55-yard field goal attempt on the previous drive, connected on a 37-yard field goal as Georgia extended its lead to 24-19 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

But a fourth-and-2 attempt with 9:31 proved damaging, as Georgia ran the offense on the field late only to see Stockton sacked for a 10-yard loss that put Ole Miss in scoring position at the UGA 23.

Indeed, two plays later Chambliss his Harrison Wallace lll for a 13-yard touchdown pass that gave the Rebels at 34-24 lead with 9:02 remaining.