‘They Made More Plays’: Kirby Smart Explains Georgia’s 39-34 Sugar Bowl Loss

NEW ORLEANS — Kirby Smart didn’t sugarcoat it after Georgia’s season ended Thursday night in the Sugar Bowl.

Ole Miss made the last play — and, in Smart’s view, simply made more of them.

“They made more plays than we did,” the Georgia head coach said after the Bulldogs’ 39-34 loss at the Caesars Superdome. “And I’ve got to be honest — that’s part of football. They outexecuted us, outcoached us, outplayed us.”

Georgia (12-2) erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, tied the game with 56 seconds remaining on Peyton Woodring’s 24-yard field goal, and still walked off stunned after Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro drilled a 47-yard field goal with six seconds left. A safety on the final kickoff sealed the outcome.

For Smart, the loss came down to execution in the game’s thinnest moments.

“We just didn’t finish it,” he said. “I’m sick that we lost, and there’s things I would love to go back and do differently. But I’m proud of the way our guys competed when down ten.”

Georgia’s defense briefly swung momentum late, forcing a three-and-out after falling behind 34-31. But on Ole Miss’ final possession, the Bulldogs couldn’t generate one more stop.

“We go stop, stop, bat a ball,” Smart said. “It’s third-and-five, and that guy’s really good at throwing the ball.”

That “guy” — Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss — became a central factor in Smart’s postgame assessment. Chambliss threw for 362 yards and repeatedly extended plays with his legs.

“They’ve got the quarterback running around out there making unbelievable plays,” Smart said. “Their scrambles were explosive, and that hurt us.”

Smart also placed the blame squarely on himself for a pivotal fourth-quarter sequence when Georgia appeared set to punt before snapping the ball on fourth down deep in its own territory — a failed attempt that immediately flipped momentum.

“We screwed that up,” Smart said. “That was on us as coaches. It was on me. It’s not on the players.”

Later, with Georgia facing third down near the goal line before settling for the tying field goal, Smart opted to throw rather than run and drain the clock — a decision that left Ole Miss time for one final drive.

“We wanted to score a touchdown,” Smart said. “The book says, go win the game. I don’t believe in playing for a tie.”

Georgia understood the risk.

“We knew we were going to leave time on the clock,” Smart said. “It was a two-point play to win the Sugar Bowl, or at least have a chance to win it.”

Ole Miss executed. Georgia did not.

“They played to win the game,” Smart said. “And they made the play.”