Kirby Smart doubles down on timeout explanation from Georgia's win over Auburn
A very small, relatively insignificant portion of Georgia’s win over Auburn has become a story of its own. In the fourth quarter, with the Bulldogs winning 13-10 and trying to add on while in Tiger territory, Kirby Smart ran toward the official. He was motioning “timeout” with his hands, but, according to the replay, he’s saying, “they’re clapping”
Smart was asked about the turn of events after the game, offering an explanation that he then doubled down upon in his meeting with reporters on Monday.
“I talked to no one, the SEC office wise, and I stand by what I talked about after the game,” Smart said on Monday. “Worried about Ole Miss.”
The Georgia offense was late in the play clock when Smart ran toward the official, down to its final couple of seconds when play was stopped. The play clock was reset after the officials didn’t charge the Bulldogs with a timeout, much to the chagrin of Hugh Freeze and the Auburn faithful.
Smart’s claim is that Auburn players were clapping, which mimics Georgia’s snap indicator. By the letter of the law, that should be a penalty because of how it can cause confusion when it comes to the center-quarterback exchange.
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“Yeah, they’re clapping. So I told him before the game, if these guys clap, it’s a penalty.” Smart said. “They can’t clap because it will fault snap. I’ve lost games on that before in the stadium. And I told him I said they clap. I want to tell you, I got somebody in the box watching every play. They were clapping. So I ran over to him and said they’re clapping. They’re clapping. And he thought I called timeout. And so I wanted to make sure he understood. Go lip read, because I’m screaming, they’re clapping. They’re clapping. I didn’t need a timeout because we were going to get it off before the shot clock. It was 2,1. We’re going to get it off before the play clock ended. And I didn’t need a timeout. It was the fact that they were clapping. I wanted him to call it because it’s a penalty.”
Video replay confirms that Auburn’s safety did, in deed, clap multiple times as the play clock ran down. Smart started running toward the official soon after that player started clapping.
Smart was also clearly making the universal sign for a time out, bringing his hands together with the fingers on his right hand extended and striking his palm at a perpendicular angle. The decision to not charge Georgia with a timeout ultimately had no impact on the game. Georgia completed a pass for 27 yards on the next play, but it was called back due to flag on Cash Jones for an illegal blindside block.
Facing 3rd and 19 from the Auburn 38-yard line, Gunner Stockton kept the football on the next play for 11 yards to set Peyton Woodring up for a 45-yard field goal attempt. The attempt missed wide right, giving the ball back to Auburn at the Georgia 27-yard line where it went three and out. Georgia then put together a 16-play, 78-yard drive that took eight minutes and 45 seconds of the clock. Stockton capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown run to make it a two-score game with just under two minutes left. Georgia finished the game with one timeout.
