Sources: SEC suspends Georgia-Auburn referee

The Southeastern Conference has suspended longtime referee Ken Williamson for the remainder of the season in the wake of his crew’s performance in Georgia‘s 20-10 victory at Auburn on Oct. 11, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.

Williamson, who was the crew chief in that game, told SEC officials prior to the opening game that he was going to retire after this season, sources said.

The SEC declined to comment Thursday. “The SEC does not comment on personnel matters,” a league spokesperson said.

Williamson didn’t respond to a text message from ESPN.

There were two controversial calls in Georgia’s come-from-behind win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. With the Tigers leading 10-0 late in the first half, Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold tried to score on a sneak on third-and-goal from the Georgia 1.

As Arnold reached for the end zone, Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson punched the football out of Arnold’s arm. Bulldogs safety Kyron Jones recovered the ball at the 1, and officials ruled that Arnold fumbled before reaching the goal line.

After a lengthy delay, replay officials upheld the on-field ruling, giving the Bulldogs possession.

Georgia kicked a 29-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to cut Auburn’s lead to 10-3 at the half.

As Williamson made his way to the locker room, he was confronted by Auburn athletic director John Cohen and football coach Hugh Freeze.

“I have no clue how that doesn’t break the plane, no clue,” Freeze told sideline reporter Molly McGrath at halftime. “We’re due a break, maybe, one of these damn times.”

Williamson also missed a targeting penalty against Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee with 1:07 left in the first half. A review was initiated by the replay crew, and Lee was ejected from the game for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

With the Bulldogs leading 13-10 in the fourth quarter, Georgia coach Kirby Smart ran toward the side judge and appeared to call timeout with his hands. The official stopped the clock, and Smart argued that he was only telling the official that Auburn players were clapping their hands to mimic Georgia’s signals, which should warrant a penalty.

After a brief discussion, Georgia wasn’t charged a timeout, and the play clock was reset to 25 seconds.

“Go lip-read, because I’m screaming, they’re clapping,” Smart said after the game. “They’re clapping. I didn’t need a timeout because we were going to get it off before the shot clock. It was 2,1. We’re going to get it off before the play clock ended, and I didn’t need a timeout. It was the fact that they were clapping. I wanted him to call it because it’s a penalty.”

Longtime NFL official Terry McAulay, a former coordinator of football officials for the Big East and then the American Athletic Conference, told ESPN on Thursday that he believed Williamson’s punishment was too severe.

“I think this does set a very dangerous precedent,” said McAulay, who now works as a rules analyst for NBC Sports. “I mean, it’s basically succumbing to the masses who want every official’s head on a post after a difficult loss where there were maybe some controversial calls.

“I know the world doesn’t think they’re accountable, but they certainly are. They work the whole season for postseason [assignments] and when they have situations like this, they don’t get postseason assignments. They sometimes are not renewed. If they felt this rose to the level of a required punishment, there are certainly lesser punishments that may have been more appropriate than to basically end somebody’s career.”

Williamson’s suspension was first reported by Yellowhammer News.