Ole Miss bounces Tulane in first CFP test without Lane Kiffin - ESPN

OXFORD, Miss. — After leading No. 6 Ole Miss to a 41-10 rout of No. 11 Tulane in a CFP first-round game on Saturday, new Rebels coach Pete Golding walked off the field with his name being chanted by fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Golding, who won his first game as a head coach in the Rebels' first-ever CFP game, raised his fist in victory and threw his visor into the stands. Then he hugged Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter, who entrusted him with the program after former coach Lane Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30.

Golding, the Rebels' 41-year-old defensive coordinator until Kiffin abruptly left, passed his first test against the Green Wave, which qualified for the CFP as the highest-rated champion from a Group of Five conference.

Ole Miss won 12 games in a season for the first time in its history.

«To finally be the last voice, it kind of hit me some,» Golding said. «And then just more excited for the players, how they responded. Some of those hugs will get you a little bit, you know?»

The Rebels' next test, against No. 3 Georgia in a CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), figures to be much more difficult.

The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels 43-35 in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 18, handing them their only loss of the season.

The start against Tulane couldn't have gone better. After taking the opening kickoff, the Rebels needed only three plays to drive 75 yards for a touchdown in 59 seconds. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw a 30-yard pass to De'Zhaun Stribling and a 25-yarder to tight end Dae'Quan Wright, then tailback Kewan Lacy ran 20 yards up the middle for a touchdown to make it 7-0.

It was the longest streak of plays of 20 yards or longer to start a