No. 5 Ole Miss had a serious matchup with No. 9 Georgia on Saturday. The battle between the Rebels and Bulldogs had implications for the standings in the SEC and the College Football Playoff picture.
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Georgia entered the game with one loss, a 24-21 defeat by then-No. 6 Alabama on Sept. 27. Ole Miss was undefeated entering Week 8, scoring its biggest win of the season in a 24-19 battle against then-No. 10 LSU on Sept. 27.
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Despite the pressure on Lane Kiffin on Saturday, the Rebels head coach had a light moment with an SEC official. ABC broadcast cameras showed Kiffin joking with the official after calling a timeout, jesting that he actually meant to make a clapping gesture.
“I was clapping,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin was referencing Smart’s actions during the Auburn-Georgia game in Week 7, when the Bulldogs head coach called for a timeout before making an argument about clapping.
Following Georgia’s win over the Tigers, Smart explained his interaction with the official, saying he was pointing out that Auburn defenders were trying to mess up the Dawgs silent snap count by illegally clapping.
They’re clapping,” Smart said via USA Today. “So I told him before the game, if these guys clap, it’s a penalty. They can’t clap because it will fault snap. I’ve lost games on that before in the stadium. And I told him I said they clap. I want to tell you, I got somebody in the box watching every play. They were clapping.
“So I ran over to him and said they’re clapping. They’re clapping. And he thought I called timeout. And so I wanted to make sure he understood.”
Broadcasters were initially confused by Smart’s interaction with the official and his postgame comments, believing he was trying to get out of using one of his timeouts.
Kiffin is well known for trolling during and after games. It might not have hurt Ole Miss for the head coach to work the officials during a road contest at Sanford Stadium.
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