SEC reportedly suspends referee in controversial Georgia-Auburn game
The SEC has made the decision to suspend referee Ken Williamson for the rest of the 2025 season, according to a report from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel.
Williamson was the referee in Georgia’s 20-10 win over Auburn. The game featured multiple controversial calls.
The report on espn.com cited unnamed sources. The SEC declined to confirm the report, telling ESPN, “The SEC does not comment on personnel matters.”
Just before halftime, quarterback Jackson Arnold fumbled the ball while reaching for the end zone. There was a lengthy review process, where the officials deemed that defensive back Kyron Jones was down, giving Georgia the ball at its own one-yard line following the recovery. The call on the field stood.
Later in the game, officials stopped play before a third down with 12:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kirby Smart had been trying to get the official’s attention and pushed his hands together.
But the officials did not give Georgia a timeout and instead reset the down.
“I talked to no one the SEC office-wise,” Smart said prior to the Ole Miss game. “I stand by what I talked about after the game. I’m worried about Ole Miss.”
Following Georgia’s win, Smart defended his actions, even if replay showed him making the timeout signal.
“They’re clapping,” Smart said following the game. “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.”
In total, 17 penalties were called during the Georgia-Auburn game. Six went against Georgia, while 11 were called against Auburn, including a targeting call. In each of Auburn’s three SEC games, all losses, the Tigers have had at least 90 penalty yards.
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Connor Riley has been covering the University of Georgia since 2014 before moving to DawgNation full-time before the 2018 season. He helps in all areas of the site such as team coverage, recruiting, video production, social media and podcasting. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016.
