SEC now faces perception problem once Texas fans trashed field vs. Georgia after perceived bad call

Georgia officials and coach Kirby Smart may have been pleased with the final score against Texas on Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

But they were red-hot about an overturned penalty and the appearance of Texas students throwing debris onto the field influencing officials’ decisions.

The wild turn of events in the third quarter of Georgia’s 30-15 victory will be discussed by athletic directors all over the SEC in the coming days, if not by every AD in college football.

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The perception will be that Texas fans threw enough water and beer bottles and debris onto the field after a bad call, forcing officials to change their mind. The reality is that officials had already planned to come together and discuss the call and correct their own error.

“Now we’ve set a precedent if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, you have a chance to get the call reversed,” Smart said afterward. “That’s dangerous.”

The situation: Georgia faced third-and-10 from its own 31-yard line with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Quarterback Carson Beck threw to his left toward receiver Arian Smith, who was hand-fighting with Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron.

Barron got loose, intercepted the pass and returned it to the Georgia 9-yard line. Initially, officials threw a flag for defensive pass interference, effectively wiping out the interception all together and giving Georgia a first down.

Once replays were shown on the stadium’s giant video board, all hell broke loose. Bottles started flying out of the Texas student section in the northeast corner of the lower seating bowl. Sarkisian went all the way over to the opposite side of the field, held up his arms and pleaded with the crowd to stop immediately.

“I understand frustration,” Sarkisian said afterward. “We all were frustrated in the moment. But all of us, Longhorn Nation, I know we can be better than that.”

Sarkisian wasn’t so nice when he returned to the sideline. He unloaded on officials with multiple choice words. The officials then huddled and reversed the call. Referee Matt Loeffler told the crowd that “after discussion” there was no penalty for pass interference. The interception suddenly stood.

Smart told reporters that Loeffler said the official who threw the flag called the penalty on the “wrong guy.” Smart interpreted that to mean it should have been offensive pass interference on the Smith. If anything, there should have been no call for pass interference either way.

“It took him a long time to realize that,” Smart said.

In a statement issued after the game, the SEC 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. Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9-yard line.

“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 league added.

The disruption to the game with all the trash being thrown onto the field will be examined further by the league office.

Yahoo Sports noted that Georgia President Jere Morehead and athletic director Josh Brooks were speaking with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey as the game ended. Both school officials declined comment to Yahoo Sports.

Smart was already fuming about the whole night, even though his team won.

"Nobody gave us a chance,” Smart said during his ESPN post-game TV interview. “Your whole network doubted us. Nobody believed us. And then they tried to rob us with calls, in this place.”