How a controversial replay ruling denied Auburn a score, flipped momentum to lead Georgia to victory

Morgan Moriarty

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How a controversial replay ruling denied Auburn a score, flipped momentum to lead Georgia to victory image

The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry had some weirdness on Saturday night. The Auburn Tigers looked to take a 17-0 lead over the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs in the second quarter. 

Although it appeared as though Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold rushed the ball in for a touchdown, the refs reviewed the play. Over the course of about 30 minutes, the refs looked at the replay and determined that Arnold fumbled, recovered by the Dawgs. 

The decision caused an uproar inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, and both coaches were visibly upset with the length of the review. After the call, the game's momentum completely flipped towards Georgia, who ended up winning the game 20-10. 

Let's take a look at what happened in this game. 

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Officials rule Auburn fumble at goal line against Georgia

Here's the play that was overturned. Initially, the refs did not signal touchdown on the play. It appeared as though Arnold scored a touchdown:

The officials took several minutes to review the play, and determined that Georgia's Kyron Jones forced and recovered an Arnold fumble. He began sprinting towards the end zone before the officials blew the play dead. 

ABC announcer Sean McDonough was baffled as to what the officials were looking at, as from the goal line angle it appears as though the ball crosses the plane while Arnold still had clear possession:

In the end, officials ruled that it was not a touchdown, and gave Georgia the ball from their own one-yard line. There was a chorus of boos and expletives coming from the home crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

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Final two minutes of half littered with penalties, reviews

But the chaos didn't stop there. In the last minute, there were three penalties by both teams, including a 15-yard penalty on Auburn for roughing the passer. 

Georgia ended up scoring a field goal on the drive, cutting Auburn's lead to 7. So the overturned touchdown went from what could have been a 17-0 lead for the Tigers to a 10-3 game at half.  

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How the goal line call flipped the game's momentum to Auburn

If the call would have been an Auburn touchdown, the Tigers would have gone up 17-0, as score that could have easily stood until halftime. 

What's even crazier is how much the momentum shifted from Auburn to in Georgia's favor after the review. Take a look at the Tigers' stats in the first half: 

  • Auburn out-gained Georgia in total yards 237-78 
  • The Tigers had 130 rush yards compared to Georgia's 19
  • Auburn dominated UGA in time of possession, 21:48 to 8:12
  • Auburn had 130 pass yards compared to Georgia's 19

But the entire game shifted towards Georgia in the second half. The Dawgs scored 17 unanswered points in the second half. Take a look at the difference on the stat sheet, too: 

  • Georgia out-gained Auburn in total yards 218-40
  • The Dawgs had 60 rush yards compared to Auburn's 10
  • Georgia dominated in time of possession, 22:07 to 7:53
  • Georgia had 158 pass yards compared to Auburn's 30.

Georgia led 13-10 for the entire fourth quarter, until Gunner Stockton scored a 10-yard rushing touchdown with 1:53 left. 

The score put the game out of reach for the Tigers, who lost their ninth-straight to the Dawgs. 

Kirby Smart phantom timeout

Early in the fourth quarter, Georgia had the ball facing a 3rd-and-9. It appeared as though the play clock ran out on Stockton, and that Smart signaled a timeout. 

But immediately when the play was blow dead, Smart animately told the officials that he was actually clapping, and he wasn't calling a timeout.

The officials took his word, and gave the Dawgs the timeout back. Upon replay, you can clearly see Smart signaling for a timeout: 

What did both teams say about the officiating? 

After the game, Freeze was asked about the call, and the head coach was still confused about what happened: 

He added that his team was "pissed off" about the call, but the energy wasn't strong enough in the second half: 

Freeze was also asked about the Smart timeout incident:

Auburn AD, coaches accost officials coming off field

As both teams went to the locker room, Tigers athletic director John Cohen had some words for the officials: 

Freeze was also upset about the call during his halftime interview: 

You can likely guess that the SEC officials will release a statement about this one. Earlier this season, SEC officials stated after Auburn's game against Oklahoma that a play that resulted in an Sooners touchdown should not have stood.

For a call that completely shifted the momentum of the game, you can bet that Freeze and Auburn fans will have a lot to say about this one. 

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Morgan Moriarty

Morgan Moriarty joined The Sporting News as a content producer in the fall of 2024. Her sports journalism career started at the University of Florida in 2012, where she graduated in 2015. She has covered college football and basketball, the NFL and numerous other major sports for outlets like the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Down South, UPROXX Sports and SB Nation. She also covers college football for Bleacher Report, and is a featured guest on various CNN programs.