AUSTIN (KXAN) — A wild scene in the third quarter of the Georgia-Texas football game Saturday at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium had angry Texas fans throw trash onto the field following a penalty call, which officials later reversed in favor of the Longhorns.
Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron appeared to have an interception and returned it deep into Georgia territory, but one of the officials threw a flag and called Barron for pass interference. Replays on the stadium jumbotron showed contact between Barron and Georgia receiver Arian Smith, but Texas fans weren’t buying the call.
As fans threw bottles and trash onto the field, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian ran over toward the area near the student section pleading with fans to stop. Stadium personnel cleaned up the trash, and while that was going on, the officials conferred and reversed the call to allow the interception and return to stand.
Referee Matt Loeffler announced the reversal, saying “after discussion, there wasn’t pass interference on the play.” Texas scored two plays later on a 17-yard pass from Quinn Ewers to Jaydon Blue, cutting Georgia’s lead to 23-15.
The SEC released a statement about the call a couple of hours after the end of the game that said, “the game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference.”
The statement continued, “while the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time. The disruption of the game due to the debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures.”
UT statement: ‘This type of behavior will not be tolerated’
UT System Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife, UT president Jay Hartzell and UT athletics director Chris Del Conte signed off on a statement Sunday morning apologizing to Georgia players, coaches and fans along with the SEC and its officiating crew, saying in part “this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
While we deeply appreciate the passion and loyalty of our fan base at The University of Texas at Austin, we do not condone the unsportsmanlike conduct that was exhibited by some individuals throwing objects onto the field during last night’s game and sincerely apologize to the University of Georgia players, coaches, and fans, as well as the Southeastern Conference and officiating crew. This type of behavior will not be tolerated.
Respect, sportsmanship, and fairness are the values that drive our program, and we expect all of our fans to uphold these standards. We are committed to fostering a positive environment for all participants, teams, officials, and fans, and we will take steps to ensure that this type of behavior does not happen again.
We appreciate the support of Longhorn Nation and are confident that, moving forward, we will continue to represent our university with pride and respect.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
UT System Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife, UT president Jay Hartzell, UT athletics director Chris Del Conte