Georgia’s season comes to a strange end in a logic-defying Sugar Bowl loss

But then it gave the offense a chance with a stalwart forced three-and-out in the fourth quarter before finally faltering in the end.

In the final minutes of this College Football Playoff quarterfinal, the Bulldogs offense that had scored touchdowns on more than three-quarters of its red zone possessions this season earned a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line and a second-and-goal from the 3, against an Ole Miss defense that had given up touchdowns on more than half its opponents’ red-zone possessions.

A go-ahead touchdown and another chapter in the saga of quarterback Gunner Stockton was within its grasp.

But it had to settle for a game-tying field goal and, not only that, left Ole Miss and its scorching-hot quarterback enough time to advance the ball for its game-winning field goal.

The team that prided itself on its conditioning and toughness and forcing other teams to submit was outscored 20-10 in the fourth quarter and outgained 149-90.

The coach who came into the game with a 92-4 record in games in which his team led at halftime and an 84-2 record when scoring 30 or more points helped his team to lead by nine points at the half and score 34 total points.

But then Kirby Smart contributed to defeat to a team whose head coach has been on the job for less than five weeks.

Go figure.

There was not a lot of sense to be made out of Georgia’s 39-34 defeat to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night at the Caesar’s Superdome, one that ended the Bulldogs’ season at 12-2.

You can blame the extended layoff, but it didn’t follow the pattern set by other teams that had earned byes for the first round of the 12-team playoff and lost, which was to come out of the gates slow and get jumped by a sharper opponent. The Bulldogs led 21-12 at the half.

You can blame Smart for the failed fourth-and-2 play in the fourth quarter, when he had the punt team run off the field and the offense run on in an attempt to induce Ole Miss into jumping offside.

The ploy — which Notre Dame used successfully a year ago against the Bulldogs at close to the same spot on the Superdome field — failed when not only did Ole Miss not jump offside, but also strip-sacked Stockton to give the Rebels the ball at the Georgia 23-yard line to set up a touchdown pass by Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss that put Ole Miss up 34-24 with 9:02 left in the game.

But the reality is that the ball wasn’t supposed to be snapped, Smart said after the game, although he did accept responsibility. If Ole Miss didn’t take the bait, Georgia was to just take a delay-of-game penalty and then punt.

“We’ve gained more possessions than probably anybody in the country by what we’ve done, being aggressive and trying to do things that required discipline and execution,” Smart said. “We just didn’t execute that one.”

Smart’s decision to throw into the end zone on third-and-goal from the 6-yard line with Georgia down 34-31 with a little more than a minute to play, that one can be debated.

Had the Bulldogs run the ball and failed to score, Ole Miss couldn’t have stopped the clock, as it was out of timeouts. The Rebels might have had about 20 seconds after kicker Peyton Woodring’s game-tying field goal, which likely would have brought on overtime.

Smart said he wanted to play for the win and not take his chances in overtime. A touchdown and extra point would have put Georgia in the lead 38-34, putting Ole Miss in position to likely have to go 75 yards in about a minute without any timeouts to win.

However, Stockton’s pass into the end zone to tight end Oscar Delp was broken up, Woodring kicked a 24-yard field goal to tie the score at 34, and the Rebels had more than enough time to get close enough to kick the game-winning field goal with six seconds left.

That set up the entirely bizarre sequence to end the game. First, Smart had returner Landon Roldan bring the kickoff out of the end zone and then throw a cross-field lateral, but Roldan lost his footing and the ball rolled out of bounds, brushing the end-zone pylon for a safety.

The stadium clock expired, Ole Miss players began celebrating and a stage was moved onto the field for the trophy presentation before it was ruled that one second remained on the clock.

With the ensuing free kick, Woodring pulled off a successful onside kick — sending the ball spinning and curving far enough for Cash Jones to recover it to seemingly end the game.

This time, Ole Miss players emptied a bucket on coach Pete Golding before it was ruled that no time had elapsed, giving the Bulldogs one final scrimmage play from their 31-yard line.

After a completion to receiver Colbie Young, the Bulldogs lateraled 11 times before being tackled to end the game, this time for good.

It was a strange finish to a game that didn’t make a serious attempt at fitting into a cohesive narrative.

For the second year in a row, the Bulldogs won the SEC title, earned a first-round bye, were thought to be legitimate national-title contenders and saw their hopes run into a brick wall in the quarterfinals round in New Orleans.

As visitors to this city know well, the hangover will not be pleasant.