SEC Fines Texas $250k After Fans Throw Trash On Field In Loss To Georgia

The Texas Longhorns’ loss to the Georgia Bulldogs last night cost them more than just the top spot in the AP Top 25 rankings.

Late in the third quarter, the referees made a highly controversial defensive holding call on defensive back Jahdae Barron as he intercepted a pass from Carson Beck. Everyone not in Georgia red, from the fans in the stands to the broadcasters in the ESPN booth, knew that this was beyond a shadow of a doubt not a penalty.

In fact, Texas fans were so convinced that the referees botched this call that they decided to do something about it. I mean, it’s not like they could have gone on the field and told the refs to change the call, but they did start throwing bottles and cans on the field.

I don’t condone this behavior at all. I’ve been at sporting events where fans threw stuff on the playing surface, and it's not only a horrible look for the fanbase doing it, it's unsafe for the players. Thankfully, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian went over to the fans displaying this unruly behavior and pleaded with them to stop.

Eventually, the referees did reverse the call during this stoppage of play, but it did little to affect the game, as Georgia ended up winning 30-15. Furthermore, the SEC fined Texas $250,000 for the incident (it's still weird to me that Texas isn’t a Big 12 school anymore). 

This is deserved. I get being frustrated at a bad call, but you have to find a way to handle your frustration differently. Throwing trash and potentially hurting players and coaches isn’t the way to do it.