Georgia coach Kirby Smart is being hailed for his decision to call a fourth-quarter timeout against Ohio State in Saturday night’s Peach Bowl.
With 8:58 to play in the final quarter, Smart and his staff noticed Ohio State lined up in a strange punt formation and called a timeout that snuffed out a fourth-down fake punt and potentially saved the Bulldogs’ season.
At the time, Ohio State led 38–27, and if the fake was executed, the Buckeyes would have been able to kill more time off the game clock. Instead, Smart called a timeout just before the snap, and the play was carried out as a fake just after the whistle blew.