AUBURN, Ala. — Inches away from the end zone, Auburn tried a tush-push play to go up three scores on No. 10 Georgia late in the second quarter. The result: a wild play, a six-minute replay review and a controversial ruling that gave Georgia the ball, changing the momentum in a game the Tigers had dominated.
There were less than two minutes left in the first half Saturday, with Auburn leading 10-0, and the Tigers had third-and-short after quarterback Jackson Arnold was ruled down just shy of the goal line. After a replay review confirmed the second-down call, Auburn’s offense raced to the line in tush-push formation — the running backs behind Arnold, ready to shove him forward — on third down.
Then the chaos ensued.
The mass of players converged in a pile after the snap, and as Arnold leaned across the goal line, Georgia linebacker CJ Allen punched out the football. Some Auburn players signaled for a touchdown. Georgia defensive back Kyron Jones emerged with the football, showed the officials and started running downfield, encouraged by his sideline.
Amid the mass confusion, officials whistled the play dead as the Georgia player ran downfield. After briefly discussing it, the crew ruled it a fumble recovery for Georgia.
THE REFS RULED THIS A FUMBLE 😱
GEORGIA PUNCHES IT OUT AT THE GOAL LINE‼️ pic.twitter.com/XdIgYywx5s
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2025
A television angle from the pylon camera showed an achingly close play: Arnold jumped toward the end zone holding the ball. It definitely came loose; the question was whether the ball had crossed the goal line before that. Allen’s punch appeared to come just after the ball went across the line. But it was also possible the ball started to come loose in Arnold’s hands before the punch.
After a review stoppage lasting six minutes, officials upheld the fumble. That doesn’t necessarily mean it was confirmed; while in past years, officials would add a distinction between whether a call was confirmed or whether it “stood,” implying there was not conclusive evidence to overturn the call, this year, officials use the word “upheld” for both.
If the call had been overturned, Auburn would have gone up 17-0, assuming a made extra point, a huge lead on a Georgia team that to that point had only 20 yards on offense.
“I have no clue how that didn’t break the plane,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said in a halftime interview with ABC. “No clue. We’re due a break, maybe, one of these times.”
“I have no clue how [the ball] didn’t break the plane, no clue.”
Auburn HC Hugh Freeze didn’t hold back during the halftime interview 👀 pic.twitter.com/JwLskw1uaZ
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2025
Instead, the Bulldogs got the ball at their own 1-yard line and went 88 yards in 12 plays, aided by a targeting call that led to the ejection of Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee. Auburn fans, already incensed by the previous ruling, aired their grievances fully. The Tigers (3-2, 0-2 SEC) already endured one officiating controversy in a conference game, when the SEC retroactively said officials failed to penalize Oklahoma on a touchdown in a game the Sooners won 24-17.
Georgia’s drive stalled in the red zone, but a Peyton Woodring field goal cut the deficit to 10-3 at the half. The Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) also get the ball to begin the second half.
“That may be the longest half of football ever,” Freeze said.
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