NEW ORLEANS — Georgia took a two-score lead into halftime of the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss on Thursday night, 21-12.

UGA will get the ball first in the third quarter.

Gunner Stockton opened the first half 9-of-13 passing for 105 yards with five carries for 15 yards and two touchdowns.

Zachariah Branch four catches for 19 yards, including a key 15-yard catch-and-run that converted a third down and sustained the Bulldogs’ second scoring drive.

Branch’s fourth catch, his 77th of the season, broke the former mark of 76 set by Brice Hunter in 1993.

Ole Miss threatened to cut into the lead just before the half, but Dae’Quan Wright was tackled at the UGA 35 with 10 seconds left in the quarter, and the Rebels were out of timeouts and unable to stop the clock to get the field goal unit on the field.

“We just have to take one play at a time and do a better job tackling and leveraging the ball on defense, take care of the ball on offense and finish drives,” Rebels coach Pete Golding said in his halftime interview.

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is 17-of-28 passing for 160 yards and a touchdown and has two carries for 8 yards.

Georgia will be without defensive back JaCorey Thomas for the remainder of the game, after his shoulder-led tackle on an Ole Miss receiver led to his disqualification for hitting a defenseless player in the head/neck region.

Ole Miss opened the scoring with field goals of 55 and 56 yards on its second and third possessions before Stockton put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a 12-yard touchdown run to make it 7-6.

The Rebels answered with a Chambliss 3-yard TD pass to tight end Luke Hasz, but failed to convert on Chambliss’ 2-point attempt, leaving Ole Miss with a 12-7 lead.

Georgia regained the lead, 14-12, when Stockton scored on a 1-yard QB sneak, capping a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that saw the Bulldogs convert on three third-down plays.

Branch tied UGA’s single-season receptions mark on a 15-yard catch-and-run, ducking one tackle and dodging another to convert on a third-and-13. It was Branch’s 76th catch of the season, tying the record set by Hunter.

Branch set the school mark with 58 seconds left in the half on a 2-yard catch.

Georgia added to its lead when freshman defensive tackle forced a Kewan Lacy fumble at the Ole Miss 46 that Daylen Everette scooped up and returned for a touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 21-12 lead with 2:34 left in the half.

It was the first fumble of Lacy’s career.

The Sugar Bowl winner will play Miami in the CFP Fiesta Bowl semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Oregon and Indiana meet in the other CFP semifinal, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.