Hugh Freeze calls out officials over controversial fumble, Kirby Smart timeout decision

Hugh Freeze explained what he was told about the controversial timeout call from Kirby Smart late in Saturday’s game between Auburn and Georgia. With around 13 minutes remaining, Smart appeared to signal to officials for a timeout as the play clock ticked down.

However, Smart pleaded with officials that he wasn’t gesturing for a timeout and instead clapping and the Bulldogs were not charged a timeout as the play reset. Freeze was asked about the play postgame, saying that the referees gave him that exact same explanation about the play. He was still confused as to exactly how it wasn’t at least a delay of game penalty, though.

“Should have had either a delay of game or a timeout, not a whole new play,” Freeze said. “Still not sure what happened there”

The call ended up being a costly one as Auburn would go on to lose 20-10 against Georgia. However, it wasn’t the only time that it appeared the Tigers got the short end of the stick from officials.

With 1:32 remaining in the second quarter, Auburn QB Jackson Arnold appeared to cross the plane of the end zone for a touchdown. The ball was knocked out, but even the ESPN announcing crew was in agreement that Arnold was in the end zone before the ball came out.

However, that is not what officials ruled, as they called it a fumble and recovery for the Bulldogs after a review. Georgia went on to kick a field goal on the next drive, making it 10-3 instead of potentially 17-0. 

Freeze also offered his thoughts on that play, saying that he felt like it should have been a Tigers touchdown. Auburn never scored again after that.

“I felt like we broke the plane,” he said. “The nose of the ball has to break the plane, but it didn’t go our way.”

Those couple of plays are definitely going to linger in the mind of both Hugh Freeze and everyone associated with Auburn after the loss to Georgia and Kirby Smart. We’re sure to get some sort of comments from the SEC in the coming days on them, as they drew a lot of attention from fans around the conference.

It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Auburn reach out to the conference to get an explanation for itself. We’ll see how it plays out over the next week with the Tigers set to face Missouri in Week 8.