Aside from the two missed field goals, and Georgia passing the ball on first and goal from the South Carolina 4-yard line late in the fourth quarter, two penalties cost Georgia points at pivotal times in the ballgame.

A Todd Gurley 54-yard touchdown run in the first half was called back to due a holding penalty on Brandon Kublanow. On that same first and goal play, quarterback Hutson Mason was flagged for intentional grounding which led to the missed 28-yard field goal by Marshall Morgan.

Richt discussed the two penalties during his Sunday evening teleconference.

“On that particular play, we thought Kublanow was in the framework of the defender,” Richt said according to the Athens Banner-Herald. “We thought it was legal. What happened was, I don’t remember if it was one of his teammates or one of our guys, but somebody actually kind of clipped the back of the defender’s leg as they were running through there. It might have been a back running a route, I don’t know what happened, but he kind of got tripped up and it looked like Kublanow kind of grabbed him and swung him to the ground but in reality, he got tripped up by someone behind him so it may as appeared as if it was kind of a takedown. I really don’t think it was. We’ll turn it and see what they think after reviewing.”

To be clear, the Georgia coaching staff video clips that they viewed differently than what was called to the SEC office in Birmingham, Ala. weekly. These calls will not be overturned, but Richt and his staff are simply looking for clarification.

“I think it’s helpful to hear it and I also think it’s good for them to keep training up their officials on a weekly basis,” Richt said. “Just like they’re trying to get better, we’re trying to get better, too.”

Richt said the coaches looked at the film regarding the intentional grounding call on Mason and that “it definitely hit the defender.”

“I’m going to be asking the officials what the ruling is on that,” Richt said. “I don’t know if they saw it while it happened or not. As it deflected off the defender, it certainly looked like there was no one in the area where the ball landed, I know that. If the ball didn’t get hit by the defender it would have landed a lot closer to one of our eligible receivers. I don’t know if we would’ve been called for that or not. It’s a good question, it’s one I’m going to ask our officiating crew … Right now I don’t know the answer to that, but we’re going to ask the question.”