Georgia’s season is over after a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, but the single moment that really ended them came with a little less than eight minutes in the fourth quarter.
Facing 4th-and-1 with a 23-10 lead, the Fighting Irish pulled their entire punt team and sent out their offense in a mad rush. Rules dictated that the Bulldogs must also be given the chance to respond with their own substitutions, which they did.
However, the ensuing confusion — with an official holding the ball until the defense was ready — led to two Georgia defenders jumping offsides. A long pass from Riley Leonard proceeded to fall incomplete, but the damage was already done in the form of a five-yard penalty.
It’s unclear if Notre Dame would have even snapped the ball had Georgia not jumped, but they happily took the first down and proceeded to burn so much clock that there were only two minutes remaining when they finally gave the ball back to Georgia. Smart was visibly angry on the sideline as it all played out.
Even though the Irish didn’t score on the drive, trimming more than five minutes of time with a two-score lead in the fourth quarter is about as good. Georgia had only one more drive for the rest of the game.
In his postgame news conference, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart complained that he had been told by officials in the SEC that an 11-man substitution, such as the one Notre Dame performed, was illegal.
“It’s really unfortunate because I’ve been told by our head officials in the SEC you can’t do that… you can’t run 11 on and 11 off.”
Kirby Smart addresses the substitutions made that caused the offside penalty against Georgia late in the game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gGivrKbPTM
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 3, 2025
Smart’s argument:
“It’s really unfortunate because I’ve been told by our head of officials in the SEC that you can’t do that. You can’t run 11 on and 11 off. We did in in 2017 against Tennessee. We carried that, we practiced that and repped because teams try to do it and were told by officials that you could not do that, so we were trying to say you couldn’t do that.”
“We got our defense out there. We were fine. I would have gone for it if I was them, so I don’t think they were planning on going for it. They were going to hard count us, and we prepared for that. We do it every week, and we jumped offsides, but we were also told you couldn’t do that by our league.”
As the X community notes and many other viewers observed, it’s hard to see what Smart is talking about. Looking through the NCAA rulebook, there doesn’t seem to be any restrictions on 11-man substitutions in a way relevant to the play in question.
Here’s what the section on substitutions has to say:
Any number of legal substitutes for either team may enter the game between periods, after a score or try, or during the interval between downs only for the purpose of replacing a player(s) or filling a player vacancy(ies)
A legal substitute may replace a player or fill a player vacancy provided none of the following restrictions is violated:
a) No incoming substitute shall enter the field of play or an end zone while the ball is in play
b) No player, in excess of 11, shall leave the field of play or an end zone while the ball is in play
And here’s how dead-ball fouls work:
When Team A sends in its substitutes, the officials will not allow the ball to be snapped until Team B has been given an opportunity to substitute. While in the process of substitution or simulated substitution, Team A is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage with the obvious attempt of creating a defensive disadvantage. If the ball is ready for play, the game officials will not permit the ball to be snapped until Team B has placed substitutes in position and replaced players have left the field of play. Team B must react promptly with its substitutes.
Notre Dame’s offense entered the field with 20 seconds left on the play clock, giving Georgia plenty of time to send in its defense, and an official was there preventing an early snap that could have disadvantaged Georgia.
The ball wasn’t in play until every player was in place with five seconds remaining, and it was only then the Georgia players jumped. Smart at least admitted that the confusion didn’t prevent Georgia from getting its defense out, but it sounds like he needs to speak with those SEC officials more than anyone involved in Thursday’s game.