Chaos erupted between Auburn and Georgia after a controversial sequence of events led to a lengthy delay before halftime.
How a controversial replay ruling denied Auburn a touchdown against Georgia in first half originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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 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. 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:
WHAT JUST HAPPENED??? pic.twitter.com/w0z6JaWc66
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 12, 2025
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:
“I have no idea what they’re looking at.” — ESPN Sean McDonough after @SECOfficiating ruled Jackson Arnold fumbled at the goal line after the pylon cam clearly showed he crossed the plane with possession pic.twitter.com/ETMv4RfI3B
— Power of Dixieland (@PwrofDixieland) October 12, 2025
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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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:
Auburn AD John Cohen lights into officials as they walk off the field. pic.twitter.com/oNAH117HCl
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 12, 2025
Freeze was also upset about the call during his halftime interview:
"I have no clue how [the ball] didn't break the plane, no clue."
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2025
Auburn HC Hugh Freeze didn't hold back during the halftime interview 👀 pic.twitter.com/JwLskw1uaZ
If Auburn loses the game against Georgia, this call will look even bigger.
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.
Category: General Sports
