Kirby Smart and the No.10 ranked Georgia Bulldogs literally managed to escape Auburn with a 20-10 win, but the victory was far from clean and included some controversial officiating that had Auburn fans in total misery. Early in the game, a critical moment occurred when Auburn appeared to have scored a touchdown, but officials overturned the play on a very close goal-line call. This was a huge turning point because instead of Auburn potentially taking the lead or closing the gap, Georgia got a break that allowed them to maintain control. Hugh Freeze was clearly upset because it appeared that Auburn had scored, but the call was reversed, giving Georgia an early break.

The second major controversy came in the fourth quarter, with Georgia clinging to a three-point lead. They faced third-and-9 with the play clock running down, meaning they needed to snap the ball quickly or risk a delay-of-game penalty. This is a critical situation in football: a penalty here could have put Georgia in a tough spot, potentially giving Auburn better field position. Gunner Stockton was vocal, likely trying to communicate with his team while the clock ticked dangerously close to zero. Meanwhile, head coach Kirby Smart ran down the sideline to manage the situation.

Smart signaled for a timeout, which is a standard move to prevent a delay-of-game penalty. The officials granted the timeout, stopping the clock and allowing Georgia to reset the play. But here’s where things got weird. Immediately after the timeout was granted, Smart began arguing that he hadn’t actually wanted a timeout, that he was just clapping. On video replay, it was clear that Smart did call for the timeout, but the officials decided not to penalize Georgia for any perceived “confusion” and simply reset the ball. That didn’t sit well with a long-time college football analyst Tim Brando.

The veteran announcer took it to X and called out Kirby Smart for screwing the Auburn unethically: ” Boy did @AuburnFootball just get screwed! Kirby Smart was clearly calling time out. The League remains so questionable when it comes to taking care of the so called “elite!” Just pathetic.” Even though Kirby Smart got caught red-handed, he simply got away just like that.

Even the TV announcers, Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy, were totally confused and said they had never seen anything like it and questioned the refs:  “Can they let him get away with this? Because the play clock was at one when they stopped it.” McDonough doubled down on Kirby Smart’s dirty antics: “He’s signaling for the timeout. The official stopped the play. There’s one second on the play clock. So they’re going to give him a re-do and not charge him the timeout?” Although Georgia failed to convert the third down and later missed a field goal on that same drive, and even finished the game with an unused timeout, the no-call still left Auburn furious, feeling that the officials had mishandled a crucial moment that could have changed the game for the Tigers. Hugh Freeze and Auburn fell to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.

Even if you take this play out of the fraction, there are few elements which could have changed the game for the Auburn Tigers.

Where did it go wrong for the Auburn Tigers?

The Tigers started strong, took 10-0 early lead in front of a loud Jordan-Hare crowd. Auburn’s offense clicked in the first half, putting up 238 total yards, including 131 on the ground, while controlling possession and limiting Georgia to just 14 yards in the first quarter. However, things fell apart after halftime.

Auburn’s offense decided to go MIA mid-game, gaining only 40 total yards in the second half as Georgia came alive. Penalties became a problem — 11 in the first three quarters — allowing Georgia to tie the game 10-10 and eventually take the lead.The Bulldogs capitalized with a late touchdown run by quarterback Gunner Stockton to seal the win.

Despite the loss, Auburn’s defense was on the money all night. The Tigers’ linebackers held Georgia to just 79 rushing yards on 20 attempts. But it all went down the drain because the offense couldn’t recover from missed opportunities and mistakes. Auburn will try to regroup next week when they host No. 14 Missouri, hoping to earn their first SEC win of the season. Mind you, it won’t be easy game by means. Auburn most likely will be the underdog again.