Kirby Smart clarifies ‘clapping’ plea to refs which led to controversial timeout decision

Georgia coach Kirby Smart clarified his part in a controversial sequence in a 20-10 win over Auburn on Saturday night. The issue at hand was a sequence in which Smart appeared to call timeout, only to have the officials wave off the timeout and reset the play clock.

The Bulldogs had the play clock winding down and didn’t look like they’d get the snap off in time. So Smart ran down the sideline and appeared to signal for timeout.

But after he did and officials halted play, Smart then pivoted and began clapping in the officials’ face. The ABC broadcast booth thought he was explaining to the refs that he was clapping rather than signaling for timeout.

That wasn’t the case. Kirby Smart explained it was about the Auburn defense.

“Yeah, they’re clapping, so I told them before the game, ‘If these guys clap, it’s a penalty,'” he said. “They can’t clap, because we’ll false snap. I’ve lost games on that before in this stadium. And I told them, if they clap I’m going to tell you.”

As the play unfolded, Georgia’s left tackle seemed to false start. It was unclear whether he did so because the play clock was winding down or because Auburn was simulating a clap.

Kirby Smart obviously felt it was the latter. He had prepped for that.

“I’ve got someone in the box watching every play,” Smart said. “They were clapping. So I ran over to them and said, ‘They’re clapping, they’re clapping.’ And he thought I called timeout. So I wanted to make sure he understood. Go lip read, because I’m screaming, ‘They’re clapping, they’re clapping.'”

As things played out, the officials did not assess Georgia with a timeout, and the play clock was reset for the play. The Bulldogs would ultimately end up settling for a field goal on the drive, missing it. So the damage from the officiating miscue was mitigated from the Auburn standpoint.

But Kirby Smart wanted to be clear about the clapping issue. He was emphatic in the post-game press conference.

“I didn’t need a timeout, because we were going to get it off before the shot clock,” Smart said. “It was 2, 1… we were going to get it off before the play clock ended. I didn’t need a timeout. It was the fact that they were clapping. I wanted them to call it because it’s a penalty.”