What the heck is happening in Austin right now?
As I’m writing this, Georgia is up 23-15 and has absolutely dominated for pretty much the entire game but Texas just cut the lead down to 8 after a huge interception that set the Longhorns up at the 9 yard line late in the 3rd quarter.
But the interception didn’t come without controversy.
The referees initially called the worst defensive pass interference calls we’d ever seen. Sure, there was a little contact but most of it was clearly done by the wide receiver and the corner has the right to go for the ball.
Take a look for yourself:
Yeah, awful…
As you’d imagine, Longhorn fans were absolutely fuming and the student section began throwing every liquid receptacle in sight onto the field, something I absolutely do not condone, and it caused the game to be delayed while crew members cleaned up the mess.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian ran over to try and calm everyone down but it didn’t seem to work because in just a few seconds hundreds of beer cans and water bottles were litter across the turf.
Obviously this is not a good look and can’t become the norm when a call doesn’t go your way, but in this particular case, it seems to have allowed the referees to correct themselves.
During the clean up delay, the officials huddled together to discuss the play. We don’t know exactly how it happened or what caused them to do it, but they wound up changing the call.
The pass interference was wiped away and Texas got the ball, allowing them to pull within one score of the Bulldogs.
THE REFS CHANGED THEIR MINDS! NO HOLDING! KIRBY SMART IS PISSED!!! pic.twitter.com/Po1Xu13gsv
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 20, 2024
Sure, it’s possible they would have huddled up and changed the call without all the chaos that ensued at Darrel K Royal Memorial Stadium, but it certainly didn’t hurt that they had a few extra minutes to mull it over.
Did the Texas student section bully the refs into making the correct call? Many, many people think so…
New precedent in CFB.. if you disagree with a call & you just have fans throw as many beer cans on the field as you can.. they’ll reverse it !
— Alex Caruso (@ACFresh21) October 20, 2024
Changing a call bc beer cans are thrown on the field sets a dangerous precedent. I guarantee this will happen at another SEC game this year
— Travis Fulton (@travisfulton16) October 20, 2024
Did throwing beer cans work?!?!?
— Joe Castiglione Jr. (@JoeCJr29) October 20, 2024
that is the wildest thing you will ever seen. Changed a non reviewable call, because of 10 min delay cleaning up beer cans on the field
We got a game in Austin now for sure— Rusty Mansell (@RustyMansell_) October 20, 2024
The refs rewarded the Texas fans for throwing beer cans….because the delay is what enabled the discussion lol
— Doug Kezirian (@DougKezirian) October 20, 2024
These refs just set a precedent that you can help overturn a call if you just chuck beers onto the field lol
— Matt McGavic (@Matt_McGavic) October 20, 2024
I think we can all agree that the correct call was eventually made, but at what cost? Is every questionable call going to lead to beer showers and angry mobs?
Time will tell but one thing is for sure; we’ll be talking about this moment for a long while if Texas is able to pull this one off.
