Coach blasts ESPN, refs after huge win

Georgia’s football team earned a big win on Saturday, going on the road to beat No. 1 Texas. The Bulldogs dominated the Longhorns for much of the game, opening up a 23-0 lead and then shutting the door on a late Longhorns rally, winning 30-15.

Following the game, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was interviewed by field reporter Katie George. While praising his team, he vented some frustration about both ESPN and the game’s officiating.

“Nobody gave us a chance,” Smart said. “Your whole network doubted us. Nobody believed us. And then they tried to rob us with calls, in this place. And these guys are so resilient.”

The coach continued.

“We talked about intent. What was our intent when we walked on the field? Our intent was not to take pictures. Not to do all the superstar stuff. Our intent was to eat.”

Regarding the officiating, there were 15 accepted penalties in the game. Eight of those were called against Texas. Though, to be fair, those eight were only for 40 yards, while the seven called on Georgia were for 78 yards.

There was a critical sequence late in the third quarter, which saw a Longhorns interception negated due to pass interference, Texas fans throwing things onto the field and then, just before resuming play, the officials overturned the pass interference penalty. But while the sequence was certainly strange, it’s worth noting that the final call made appeared to be correct. There was contact on the interception but it looked to be initiated more by the Georgia receiver than the Texas defensive back.

As far as Smart trying to paint his team as underdogs — we’ll cut him some slack. Hearing the coach of a team only one year removed from back-to-back national championships and with NFL talent up and down its roster use the “nobody believes in us argument” is eye-roll inducing. But in this case, Texas was a near consensus pick to win the game. As tiring as it is to hear someone like Smart try to paint arguably college football’s most talented roster as a plucky underdog, we’ve heard the argument from worse sources .

[Photo Credit: ABC]

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