Smart talks decision not to challenge near interception by Mauger in fourth quarter

It appeared to be an interception that would’ve put the game away for Georgia.

Instead, it was ruled a reception, which allowed South Carolina to continue its drive.

With less than five minutes to go in Georgia’s 28-14 win, South Carolina faced a third-and-24 from its own 12-yard line. Quarterback Perry Orth threw the ball over the middle to Kiel Pollard, with Georgia safety Quincy Mauger jumping in front and appearing to intercept the pass.

Mauger then fell to the ground, with Pollard following in suit on top of him.

From there, the questions are these: Did Mauger have possession of the ball when he hit the ground? Or did Pollard initiate a play on the ball that Mauger grabbed first, which allowed for South Carolina to retain possession?

The officials on the field ruled it a reception for the Gameockcs, even though replay does show Mauger was the first one to grab sole possession of the ball before going to the ground. The play wasn’t reviewed or challenged.

It was at a big moment because Georgia led 21-7 and could’ve essentially ended the game there. But by keeping the ball, the Gamecocks were able to convert on the ensuing fourth-down play and wind up scoring a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14 with 1:40 left to play.

With the officials bypassing a review, head coach Kirby Smart was asked if it crossed his mind to call a timeout and challenge the call on the field.

“I actually thought about reviewing it because it was such a big play in the game, changed the game,” Smart said. “But I know what they’re going to say. I’m sitting there watching it. They called it a catch by the other guy. They can’t reverse that because joint possession goes to them.”

Essentially, Smart thought there likely wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. After Mauger gets his hands on the ball first, it’s a bang-bang scenario when he falls to the ground. Pollard quickly jumps on him and then the ball comes out and into his arms.

In real time, it’s easy to see why the officials gave the ball to South Carolina. On replay, it looked a lot closer, and perhaps that Georgia should have been credited with an interception. For what it's worse, the SEC Network's Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer thought the play was an interception after seeing the replay.

“It looked like he rolled on the ground and the play was dead,” cornerback Malkom Parrish said. “And then afterwards it got taken away from him. But I’ll see it when I watch film. But in my opinion I thought that was an interception.”

South Carolina was in a hurry-up situation and moved to the line of scrimmage fast to get the next play off. Perhaps if the Gamecocks moved slower, the officiating crew upstairs would have signaled for a review.

In the end, however, Smart wishes Mauger would have secured the interception and not allowed Pollard to wrestle it away – whether he was on the ground first or not.

“I was getting on Quincy because I wanted Quincy to make that play because that would’ve changed the whole outlook,” Smart said. “The game’s probably over. It was a huge play in the game. But I didn’t think reviewing it was going to do anything because they’re going to come up and say joint possession. Plus, they review it anyway. They review everything so they would’ve slowed it down if they had to.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Smart talks decision not to challenge near interception by Mauger in fourth quarter."