Texas football was stunned this weekend as the #1 ranked team in the country was handed its first loss of the year by Georgia in Austin. To begin the game, the Longhorns soon found themselves in trouble early, as the Bulldogs took a commanding first-half lead. They walked into halftime with a 23 to 0 lead over Texas. Shaken, the Longhorns mounted a comeback in the second half, pulling the game within 8 points in the 3rd quarter. However, that is when the other trouble began.
The controversy of this game started near the end of the third quarter. Georgia was beginning their possession but ended up throwing an interception that was returned to the Georgia 10-yard line. There was a flag on the play, though, which turned out to be pass interference on Texas, erasing the turnover. To say the contact was light would be an understatement, but PI calls are some of the most inconsistent calls in college football.
The call led to an eruption of booing for the Texas home crowd when the replay was shown on the jumbotron. This booing soon led to the Texas student section streaming beer cans and water bottles onto the field. The fervor in the stadium only grew as the fans saw their big break slipping away.
This wasn’t the end of it, as out of nowhere, the ref came back on the PA to pick up the flag, saying there was no PI on the play. This meant the interception stood, and Texas was right back into this game. A result you rarely see, as PI calls are non-reviewable. The refs had to convene and decide to rescind the penalty. You can see the entire event in this video from ESPN.
Even though the Longhorns eventually lost the game, more losses may come down the pipeline for the Longhorns. Because of the disruptive behavior of the fans, the SEC has already fined the university $250,000. This might be one of many sacrifices the university has to make. There is currently an investigation into the alcohol policies at the stadium as well. If they find the University in violation of the conference alcohol policies, this could lead to the Longhorns fans losing access to alcohol in the stadium with the SEC bylaws stating.
That’s not all, though. The University now has to try to find all of the wrongdoers in the crowd. Using all available TV feeds or other means to identify the individuals who threw the bottles. Anyone caught will be banned for the remainder of the season. The SEC commissioner, Greg Sankey, said this about the event.