UGA football coach Kirby Smart: 'We’ve set a precedent' in call reversal after game delayed

AUSTIN, Texas — Both Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian were fuming mad.

First Sarkisian at a pass interference call on Jahdae Barron against Georgia receiver Arian Smith late in the third quarter. Then Smart for it being reversed after debris including bottles were thrown onto the field.

That delayed the game and gave Texas a chance to put more pressure on Georgia in a game the No. 4 Bulldogs won 30-15 in an upset of the No. 1 Longhorns.

“He just said the guy got it wrong,” Smart said about when he asked referee Matt Loeffler about the call. “The guy called it on the wrong guy, which it took him a long time to realize that, you know. It’s one of those things that I don’t know what I’m allowed to say and not say. I won’t comment because I want to respect the wishes of the SEC office.”

Then he did comment more.

“I will say that now we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes that you’ve got a chance to get your call reversed,” Smart said. “That’s unfortunate because to me that’s dangerous. That’s not what we want and not criticizing officials. That’s what happened.”

Smart said “you would think there would be some form of punishment for the team responsible,” for the game being delayed.

The SEC responded as of early Sunday morning on its explanation of why the call was reversed.

"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."

Texas coach Steve Sarkisan said he did not get an explanation of the overturn.

“I was literally just asking the official what he saw to warrant DPI (defensive pass interference),” Sarkisian said. “And then at that moment, the trash came on the field. And, you know, that's -- I understand frustration. We all know we're frustrated in the moment, but, you know, all of us in Longhorn Nation, I know we can be better than that."

Later Sunday, the university issued an apology on behalf of President Jay Hartzell, AD Chris Del Conte and Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife regarding the behavior of Longhorns fans:

"While we deeply appreciate the passion and loyalty of our fan base at The University of Texas at Austin, we do not condone the unsportsmanlike conduct that was exhibited by some individuals throwing objects onto the field during last night's game and sincerely apologize to the University of Georgia players, coaches and fans, as well as the Southeastern Conference and officiating crew. This type of behavior will not be tolerated."

(This story was updated to change a video and add additional information.)

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How Georgia and Texas coaches reacted to pass interference reversal