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It's the penalty reversal heard 'round the world. During the Georgia-Texas matchup in Week 8, a defensive pass interference call went against Texas football's Jahdae Barron on a play where he intercepted the ball and returned it to the Georgia 9-yard line. After the replay went up for all the fans to see, the Longhorns' student section rained down trash onto the field. In the delay in clearing the field, the penalty was overturned, and Joel Klatt of FOX Sports was not pleased with the chain of events.
“The officiating in college football right now is really poor. And most of the bad calls are centered around pass interference, which to the official's credit, or defense, is impossible to officiate. But this one is like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is a bad call.' Georgia player runs into Texas player. They're fighting and then it's a pick and all of a sudden the flag comes out. Number one, it was a bad call. Number two, then chaos erupts, as we all know. Bottles on the field, [Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian] is going over there, holding up his hands. …
“They changed the call. I've never, in my life, seen anything like this. Never. They changed the call. They rewarded the child throwing a fit in the candy aisle at your local grocery store to get his mom to buy him a Snickers. When you see that in the grocery store, aren't you like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can't believe that parent just allowed that kid to throw a fit and get his way.' … My kid's been on the floor. Guess what he didn't get? A Snickers. You know why? I'm an adult! … They changed the call!”
https://twitter.com/JoelKlattShow/status/1848411631593943189
While the correct call was made in the end, the Longhorns' fans' disruptive action should've been penalized. So negate the pass interference call, but the fans should've been penalized for delaying the game.
Texas football is trying to right the wrong
The University of Texas issued a public apology to the SEC and Georgia for the behavior of their fans. Jay Hartzell, the university president, emailed the student body to let them know the school had to pay a $250,000 fine and would attempt to identify the students involved.
After the game, Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian had a message for fans, per On3.
“I understand frustration,” Sarkisian said. “We were all frustrated in the moment. But all of us, Longhorn Nation, we can be better than that.”
Texas dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 in the AP Top 25. They travel to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Saturday, October 26 at 4:15 p.m. EST.
