Kirby Smart reacts to Texas fans throwing trash on the field after controversial play

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs got the short end of the stick on some controversial calls in their 30-15 win over the Texas Longhorns on Saturday.

Among those were when Texas intercepted a pass off of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck in the third quarter, with a flag called for defensive pass interference that drew boos from the Longhorns crowd. In the middle of that, they began throwing trash on the field.

During the delay of the game due to the debris on the field, the call was overturned by the officials. That, on the outside at least, made it seem as if the crew were setting a precedent that it was okay for the Texas fan base to act the way they did and potentially put the athletes on the field in harm’s way.

Smart had some comments on that after the game, in addition to having aired his thoughts on what he thought about the fans essentially being allowed to throw debris on the field.

“I will say that now you’ve set a precedent that you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes to get what you want.”

Kirby on officiating… “I will say, that now you’ve set a precedent that you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes you get what you want.”

— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) October 20, 2024

The SEC office issued an official statement early Sunday morning on the matter.

Statement from the SEC Office:

“With 3:12 to play in the third quarter of the Georgia at Texas game, Texas intercepted a pass at the Texas 46-yard line and returned it to the Texas 9 yard line.  Texas was flagged for committing defensive pass interference on the play which resulted in Georgia maintaining the ball with a first down.

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.  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.

The disruption of the game due to debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures.”

How this does or does not affect fans from throwing things on the field, which has happened at several sporting events, will remain to seen.

Crissy Froyd

Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.