Georgia AD addresses controversial officiating decision in Texas game

The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs may have pulled off an incredible upset over the No. 1 Texas Longhorns on the road but the fallout from a controversial penalty reversal still lingers the following day.

Early in the second half, Texas intercepted Georgia quarterback Carson Beck but the play was negated due to a defensive pass interference flag.

Texas fans threw objects onto the field in disgust and during the cleanup delay, the officials huddled and announced a reversal of the pass interference call. Texas retained possession and scored just a couple plays later.

Despite his program hanging on for the massive win, Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks took to X early Sunday morning to express how "disappointed and frustrated" he was with "the circumstances" of the game, clearly referencing the controversial reversed penalty.

"I don't find it productive to publicly demean or embarrass officials or the conference office via social media. That would be no better than the physical action of throwing objects on the field," Brooks wrote in part.

"However, I will challenge the conference office on what happened and how it happened in the manner it did," Brooks continued." Thankfully this did not cost our young men a hard fought win."

Brooks conceded disagreements about certain calls in a game are "natural" but questioned the progression of events in which the officials came to their eventual decision to reverse the penalty.

"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?" Brooks inquired. "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?"

The SEC released it's own statement Sunday addressing the incident, admitting "the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed" but that the right call was eventually made. It also vowed to review the disruption by fans throwing debris onto the field.

Brooks finished his post saying he has "faith" the conference "will learn from this and get better."