Pass Interference Call During Texas Vs. Georgia Game Had Kirby Smart Fuming Postgame, Students Throwing Trash

Texas fans lost their collective minds during the third quarter of its matchup against Georgia on Saturday night, which turned out to be all for nothing thanks to a very weird call from the officials. But no matter what occurred during the third quarter, it didn’t prevent the Bulldogs from winning 30-15 in Austin on Saturday night. 

The game had gone sideways for the Longhorns in the first half, which saw Steve Sarkisian turn to Arch Manning for a period of time when Quinn Ewers was not playing at his best. 

It was the third quarter when everything turned upside down, and I still have no idea how we reached the point. On a pass from Carson Beck, a Texas defender looked as though he had intercepted the ball and made his way into Georgia territory. But, there was a pass interference called that gave the ball back to the Bulldogs. 

UPDATE: The SEC has released a statement regarding the penalty that was called in the third-quarter, and then overturned. 

"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," the SEC noted. "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."

Well, at least we thought. In a game that had already seen Quinn Ewers replaced by Arch Manning for a period of time, and Georgia rushing out to a double-digit lead before the halftime break, I don’t think folks were expecting this game to take a wild run in the third quarter, thanks to officials. 

In one of the craziest incidents we will see this season, Texas students started littering the field with water and beer bottles from their section in the stadium. At that point, Steve Sarkisian had already lost his mind regarding the penalty and was begging the students to stop throwing objects onto the field. 

Then, during this time period, officials gathered to discuss the previous pass interference call, which cannot be reviewed by the booth, and can only be overturned by the officials on the field. So, during the halt in play due to Texas students, somehow the officiating crew decided that they had made the wrong call, and reversed their decision on pass interference, which gave the ball back to Texas. 

Kirby Smart Furious During Postgame Press Conference About Call

Yes, I know this was confusing, so imagine how Kirby Smart was feeling as he was watching this transpire on the field. Well, it didn't take long for us to hear exactly how the Georgia head coach felt about the situation that transpired on the field in the third quarter. 

The officials had enough time during the delay in action to get together and discuss the penalty that was called on the field, which is even crazier than you think about it. They actually took the time to discuss the call, while Texas students were littering the field with trash. 

During his postgame press conference, Kirby was not done discussing how he felt about the controversial call that transpired in the third quarter. Not only did the Bulldogs head coach make it clear that he thought his team was trying to get robbed at Texas, he put the blame on the delay of game due to Texas students throwing trash on the field. 

"Now we've set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, that you got a chance to get your call reversed. And that's unfortunate, because to me, that's dangerous, that's not what you want. And that's not criticizing officials, that's what happened," Kirby Smart said postgame. 

The SEC should be releasing a statement on the play sometime following the game. 

Just a few plays later, Quinn Ewers threw a touchdown pass to get the Longhorns back into the game. But then, it was Georgia that connected on a big play to get the Bulldogs back into scoring territory. 

This sequence will be talked about for a very long time, and rightfully so. 

But in terms of the entire game, Georgia rolled into Austin, Texas and handled the Longhorns on Saturday night. If there was any doubt about the Bulldogs, as Kirby enjoyed pointing out postgame, that is officially gone after beating the Longhorns. 

Statement made, Georgia.