Texas vs Georgia: Revisiting Longhorns fans delaying game by throwing trash
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You only get one chance to make a first impression, and Texas fans dropped the ball a bit in their first season in the SEC.
In last year’s regular season meeting between the Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 19, 2024 in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Longhorns fans caused a fracas when they held up play by throwing trash onto the field after a controversial pass interference, delaying the game and subsequently seeing the penalty overturned.
The incident didn’t have serious ramifications on the outcome of the game, as Georgia went on to win 30-15 in the matchup between two teams fated for the SEC championship game, but it did irk Texas’ new home. The SEC fined the Longhorns $250,000 for the debacle, and although the conference sought bans, no fans were ultimately punished.
This time, Texas vs. Georgia will be played between the hedges of Sanford Stadium, as the Longhorns travel to Georgia for their first road game in Athens. While the environment won’t be hospitable, hopefully the bottles will stay in the stands in these two teams’ third matchup in the past 13 months.
Why did Texas fans throw bottles vs. Georgia?
Texas’ game against Georgia was not going its way. With the score at 23-8 with 3:18 left in the third quarter, Carson Beck zipped a pass that was offline to Arian Smith. The pass was undercut and picked off by Jahdae Barron.
Barron ran the ball back inside the Georgia 10-yard line, but the play was called back for pass interference on Barron.
As Georgia tried to line up to run its next play, bottles were thrown onto the field, delaying play. The bottles came from the student section behind Georgia’s end zone. As the bottles were cleared, the officials discussed the penalty, and ultimately picked up the flag, giving Texas the ball at the Georgia 9-yard line.
Kirby Smart was irate after the reversal, which led to a Texas touchdown for the Longhorns’ final points of the game.
Texas penalties from SEC for trash throwing incident
Texas was handed a stiff fine for its fans’ behavior.
The SEC leveled a $250,000 fine against Texas for the incident and Texas apologized to Georgia and the officials for the brouhaha. “The throwing of debris and resulting interruption of play that took place Saturday night cannot be part of any SEC event,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said.
“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,” Texas Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife, UT president Jay Hartzell and athletic director Chris Del Conte said in a statement.
Though the SEC wanted the fans identified and banned, Texas was not able to do so.
“Despite our best effort, we have not been able to identify the individuals at issue. We will take action if new identifying information comes to light,” Del Conte wrote in a report, per ESPN.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Texas was fined $250,000 by SEC after fans threw trash vs Georgia
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