The Georgia Bulldogs handed the Texas Longhorns their first loss of the season on Oct. 19. This game was perceived as one of the year’s most anticipated and it surely held to that standard.
The Bulldogs put on a display in Austin, Texas with their 30-15 win over the No. 1 team. Late in the third quarter, Texas fans began to throw trash onto the field after the referees insisted on a penalty that had negated a Texas interception. The incident resulted in a nearly five-minute delay. Eventually the referees overturned the call as the trash was getting cleaned up. Georgia Athletic Director Josh Brooks stated on X, “I will challenge the conference office on what happened in the manner it did.”
An official statement was released by both Texas and the SEC Commissions Office. The University of Texas was fined $250,000 and is required to use all available sources to identify each fan who threw a piece of trash. When identified, those fans will no longer be able to attend any event for the rest of the academic and athletic year. The University of Texas’ statement apologized for the events that took place during the game.
Though the controversial call did not impact the remainder of the game, the frustration soon shifted from the Longhorns fans to head coach Kirby Smart. Smart argued that the call was reversed too late. Following the big win in Austin, Smart told an ESPN reporter, “They tried to rob us with calls in this place.” The SEC Commission’s Office doubled down on the fact that debris being thrown on the field is unacceptable and the evaluation of the penalty by the referees was not properly executed. At this time no other statements have been made.
After the penalty being overturned, the Longhorns would march down the field and score a touchdown to make the score 23-15. The Bulldogs were able to respond on an ensuing drive to result in a winning margin. The Bulldog’s defense was able to withstand Quinn Ewers and the rest of the Longhorn’s offense. The Bulldogs defense ended the Longhorns offense four consecutive times in the final 20 minutes of the game. The Longhorns offense ended the night one of five on fourth downs and two of fourteen on third downs.
The win over the Longhorns marked Smart’s 100th career win as the Bulldogs head coach. Smart began his coaching job in Georgia back in 2016. This season is Smart’s 9th season as the Bulldogs head coach. His overall record as the Bulldogs head coach is 100-17.
This was the first time Georgia and Texas met as conference foes. Next season the two teams will meet up between the hedges in Sanford Stadium. The next time the Bulldogs play will be in Jacksonville Florida as they go head-to-head with the Florida Gators on November 2nd.
