How one sideline sleight of hand sealed Georgia’s comeback and reminded everyone why Kirby Smart is playing chess while the rest play checkers.
Kirby Smart has built his Georgia empire on preparation, toughness and precision. But every so often, he shows the one thing that separates great coaches from legends — audacity.
In Week 7, inside a roaring Jordan-Hare Stadium, Georgia rallied from a 10-3 halftime deficit to beat Auburn 20-10. The Bulldogs’ comeback was vintage Smart: methodical, resilient, and just a little mischievous. The play everyone is still talking about wasn’t a touchdown or a turnover — it was a moment when Smart appeared to call a timeout, then convinced the referees he hadn’t.
From start to finish, the game was a grind. Auburn looked poised to break it open late in the second quarter. Facing third-and-goal from the Georgia 1, Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold lunged toward the pylon — and the ball came loose. Linebacker CJ Allen knocked it free, and Georgia recovered. Replays suggested Arnold might have crossed the line before losing possession, but the call on the field stood: fumble, Georgia ball. That moment flipped everything.
Georgia marched 88 yards for a field goal to end the half, trimming the deficit to 10-3. In the second half, Auburn’s offense sputtered while Georgia tightened its grip, holding the Tigers to just 50 yards after halftime. Then came a drive for the ages — 8 minutes and 45 seconds of clock-eating football, the longest touchdown drive in Georgia history, to push the lead to 20-10.
But even with the comeback rolling, Smart’s most defining move came on the sideline. With Georgia clinging to a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter, the play clock ticked dangerously low. Smart sprinted down the sideline and gestured with his hands — the universal “timeout” signal. Officials stopped play. The broadcast booth called it immediately: “Timeout, Georgia.”
Then came the twist. Smart turned to the officials and insisted he wasn’t calling a timeout. He claimed he was pointing out that Auburn defenders were clapping — a prohibited tactic meant to simulate the snap count. The refs bought it. They reset the play clock, didn’t charge Georgia a timeout, and play resumed.
It was a moment so brazen it bordered on surreal. ESPN’s crew replayed it in disbelief. Sports Illustrated later ran a headline that read, “Georgia’s Kirby Smart Somehow Tricked Referees Into Giving Him a Free Timeout.” Auburn’s Hugh Freeze argued his case, pointing at replay monitors, but the officials didn’t budge.
After the game, Smart downplayed it. “We told them before the game about the clapping,” he said. “I was just pointing it out.” Maybe that’s true. Or maybe it was one of the most subtle acts of gamesmanship we’ve seen all season.
Either way, it worked — and it perfectly captured the essence of Kirby Smart. He’s not just a recruiter or a motivator. He’s a tactician who sees every detail, a sideline manipulator who treats every second and signal like a weapon.
Georgia’s win at Auburn marked the program’s ninth straight in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. But it’ll be remembered less for the scoreboard and more for the smirk behind it — the moment Smart turned confusion into control, and made even the officials part of his strategy.
Because on that sideline, Kirby Smart wasn’t just managing a game. He was writing a masterclass in how genius looks when it wears a headset.
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