Kirby Smart Doubles Down on Not Signalling Timeout During Win Over Auburn Tigers

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reveals that he is standing by his actions regarding the timeout fiasco in Saturday's win over the Auburn Tigers.

Week seven of the 2025 college football season is over as the Georgia Bulldogs now shift their focus to their next opponents. But while Kirby Smart and his staff have begun preperations for Ole Miss, the Bulldogs head coach is still answering questions regarding his last game.

Early in the fourth quarter of a one-score game against Auburn, a Georgia timeout was called after Kirby Smart ran towards the referee signaling what appeared to be a timeout gesture. Smart immediately began arguing with the referee that he was not asking for a timeout, and the Bulldogs would eventually not be charged.

During a media press conference the following week, Smart was once again probed on his actions regarding the situation and promptly revealed that he had not spoken with anyone in the SEC office, and was standing by his actions.

"I talked to no one, SEC office-wise. And I stand by what I talked about after the game," said Smart. "I'm worried about Ole Miss."

Smart's explanation of the event came in a separate press conference following Georgia's win on Saturday. In that presser, the coach explained that he had never signaled a timeout to the referees, but was instead attempting to get his attention to point out that an Auburn player on defense was clapping.

"Yeah, they [Auburn's defense] were clapping. That's what I told him [the head referee before the game," said Smart."I said, 'If these guys clap, that's a penalty.' They can't clap because we will false snap, and that's a penalty. I've lost games on that before in this stadium... So I ran over to him and said, 'They're clapping,' and he thought I called a timeout."

While experts, analysts, and even fans are still lamenting the baffling situation, Smart has made it abundantly clear that he and his staff are no longer concerned with the officiating decision and that the Ole Miss Rebels had his full attention.

Georgia and Ole Miss will kick off their highly anticipated week eight matchup at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 18th, in Sanford Stadium. Coverage for this game will be made nationally available on ABC.

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