Texas has finally played real competition in the 2024 season, and it did not go well for them. The Longhorns found themselves down 20-0 at halftime after Georgia came out of the gates fast. QB Quinn Ewers struggled heavily in the first two quarters, turning the ball over multiple times to the Bulldogs. Credit to the Georgia defense for displaying looks that Ewers has not seen all season. They clearly left a lot on the field after the Alabama game and had plenty of techniques in their back pocket. Ewers ended up benched to finish the half, giving the keys to Arch Manning who has appeared better so far this season.

Manning entered the game down 20-0, a new situation for the young quarterback. He appeared completely rattled and struggled to get anything going for the offense. Head coach Steve Sarkisian then returned to Ewers in the second half after apparently giving him the opportunity to settle down. The third quarter gave Texas all the points they would score in the game, 15. They would end up falling to the Bulldogs 30-15, with much controversy to be had. The Longhorns being dominated was not the story line here, however.

Late in the third quarter, the Longhorns picked off a pass from Carson Beck after jumping a comeback route. DB Jahdae Barron returned the interception to the Georgia 9-yard line, setting them up to cut the lead from 23-8 to 23-15. The interception, however, was called back by the officials, citing a pass interference on Barron. The white cap made the announcement and Longhorn fans around the stadium lost their minds. Sarkisian himself was seen throwing a tantrum on the sidelines about the called back INT and the stadium soon went from boos to sheer aggression.

Fans around DKR stadium began to throw water bottles, beer cans- some full, some empty, and more trash onto the field. Many landed in the opposite endzone from the interception, but there were plenty targeting the Georgia sidelines as well. Staff members, cheer teams, players, trainers, and coaches took shelter from the garbage and the game became delayed. Sarkisian collected himself and approached the student section and general seating and urged the fans to stop. Hundreds of pieces of garbage remained on the field already. The aforementioned cheer squads, stadium staff, trainers, and coaches began to clean up the mess.

The majority of fans watching on TV awaited the punishment from the officials to be dealt. Seemingly, the referees would declare a delay of game penalty on the home team or be generous and give a sidelines warning. Officials in the past have met such events with an ejection or relocation of fans (see the 2023 Colorado State vs Air Force game or 2005 Colorado vs Nebraska game). Throughout the 5+ minute delay, the referees had been huddled on the field. The white cap returned to the speakers and announced that there was no pass interference despite already making the call.

The delay from the fans saw the refs watching the replay on the screen of the stadium and pointing out the fault in the penalty. They then changed their minds and overruled it. The problem here is the play was not reviewable. Pass interference calls are judgement calls and can be waived before an announcement is made. An announcement was made, and the refs unofficially reviewed the call during the delay.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was quite animated in his post-game presser stating that it sets a “dangerous precedent” and that the officials tried to “cheat” them of a game. Both statements are bold, but both are true. There is no clear explanation that could be given despite the SEC attempting to do so.

This is an unacceptable occurrence and fortunately, it did not cause the Bulldogs to lose the game. This upcoming Saturday will be highly interesting as many expect fans to make a statement for themselves and throw trash onto fields in response to the unfair ruling.

Texas has since been fined $250,000 for the classless behavior and are required to use AI facial recognition to examine the crowd and identify every fan that threw things onto the sidelines or field. Once identified, those fans will be barred from attending any more Texas and potentially SEC sporting events for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic year.

The SEC should put out a statement not only condemning the behavior but cautioning officials from any future mishaps of the sort. Officials are not held responsible for their actions by league offices as they are not full-time employees. This also means they are not accountable for press conferences with the media like coaches or players are. This is an abomination for a sport in which so much money is poured into. There must be a reform to officiating in the sport and the first way to do it is adding the missing accountability as well as full time employment that can be handled with bonuses and punishments/termination just like any other job. Let the takeaway from the disaster in Austin be that of reform rather than simple anger at the unfairness.