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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
Texas officials issued an apology Sunday for fans throwing trash onto the field following a controversial pass interference call in the No. 1 Longhorns‘ 30-15 loss to No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night.
“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,” a statement from Texas Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife, UT president Jay Hartzell and athletic director Chris Del Conte said.
“This type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
Trailing 23-8 in the third quarter, Texas safety Jahdae Barron stepped in front of Georgia’s Arian Smith and intercepted a pass, returning it 36 yards to the Georgia 9 and giving Texas new life. Officials called pass interference on Barron, however, and the 15-yard penalty was marked off.
Texas fans booed the call while watching multiple replays on the stadium’s video board, and trash started streaming down onto the field from near the student section, stopping play for a few minutes. While Sarkisian walked all the way to the 10-yard line to tell fans to stop, staff members and security cleaned up the bottles as officials conferred again.
The call was overturned after the stoppage, which raised concerns that the behavior actually helped the Longhorns.
“Now we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes that you’ve got a chance to get your call reversed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said after the game. “And that’s unfortunate because, to me, that’s dangerous. That’s not what we want, and that’s not criticizing officials. That’s what happened.”
In a statement early Sunday morning, the SEC said officials “gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced.”
Early Sunday morning, Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said in a post on X that he was “disappointed and frustrated” with how the call was reversed.
“Disagreeing with a singular call is natural and will happen several times in every football game. I can accept that,” Brooks said in his post. “What I cannot accept is the manner in which this specific call was reversed. The official claimed he erred in the call. My question is when did he realize the error?
“If it was before the delay that occurred due to fans throwing objects on the field, what stopped him before the head official made the announcement and spotted the ball? I have faith we, as a conference, will learn from this and get better. We must, because in the SEC it just means more.”
In 2021, the SEC fined the Volunteers $250,000 after fans threw objects on the field in Lane Kiffin’s return against Tennessee, where he had formerly coached. Fans threw bottles, cans and other projectiles at the Ole Miss sideline, including a golf ball that hit Kiffin. Tennessee had just been stopped on fourth down after a questionable spot by officials.
Texas officials said they will take steps to ensure the incident 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,” the statement said.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.