SEC pounds Texas with $250,000 fine after bottle-throwing incident

Texas will have to pay up for all that pollution as the SEC fined the school a pretty penny after Longhorns football fans pelted the field with debris to protest a penalty.

Texas Longhorns fans expressed their displeasure with a penalty by throwing garbage on the football field, and now the SEC is asking the school to pay up. / Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Texas has been fined $250,000 by the SEC after the school’s football fans hurled objects onto the field during Saturday night’s loss against Georgia, the conference announced.

The game was delayed for several minutes after Longhorns fans threw bottles and other objects onto the playing surface to protest a pass interference call made by officials against a Texas player.

“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 in a statement.

“The SEC is assigned responsibility by its membership to enforce its sportsmanship and game management policies and these actions are consistent with that oversight responsibility, including the financial penalty and mandated reviews.”

Not only will Texas pay a hefty fine, but the SEC is demanding the school find out who was responsible for throwing things onto the field.

Texas is “required to use all available resources, including security, stadium, and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team.”

The SEC said that any people who Texas finds responsible for those actions will be prohibited from attending any of the school’s athletic events for the rest of the 2024 season.

The inciting incident that inspired fans to throw that debris was when SEC officials penalized Texas defensive back Jahden Barron for an erroneous defensive pass interference infraction.

That penalty took a Longhorns takeaway off the board as Barron had intercepted Georgia quarterback Carson Beck on the play in question.

Ironically, the delay caused by the unruly fans allowed officials extra time to reconsider the penalty, and in a somewhat unprecedented move, picked up the flag and wiped away the penalty.

But that won’t stop the SEC from asking Texas to pay up for all that pollution.

More ... SEC explains that PI call from Georgia-Texas game

(SEC)

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