Hugh Freeze expresses frustration with SEC officiating: ‘Sure feels like we’re not getting many breaks’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Hugh Freeze didn’t go scorched-earth on SEC officiating after Auburn‘s 20-10 loss to Georgia on Saturday.
That said, the third-year head coach made it clear that he wasn’t happy with some of the calls he felt went against his team.
The one that drew the most attention was Jackson Arnold’s apparent goal-line fumble with around 90 seconds left in the second quarter and the Tigers up 10-0. Though Freeze argued that the ball crossed the plane of the goal line before it came loose, possession was awarded to Georgia.
“It felt like we broke the plane,” Hugh Freeze said after the game. “Just the nose of the ball has to break the plane. I thought that (happened and I) had a pretty good shot of that. But it didn’t go our way.”
Then came what was originally called a Georgia timeout in the 4th quarter — only for it to be put back on the board after Kirby Smart claimed he was simply informing officials that Auburn’s defense was clapping to simulate a snap count. If a Georgia player had jumped the count as a result, it would have been a penalty on Auburn for causing a disconcerting signal.
“I don’t know how they either should have had to delay a game or a timeout. Not a whole new play. I’m still not sure what happened there,” Freeze said.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Auburn has felt hard done by officiating. It had a scoop-and-score touchdown controversially disallowed during a loss to Oklahoma in Week 4. So Freeze’s frustration on Saturday certainly seemed warranted.
“It sure feels like we’re not getting many breaks,” he said. “It’s difficult to take, for sure.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
