Urban Meyer wondered if the officials rewarded bad behavior by Texas fans during Saturday’s SEC clash.
Georgia handed Texas its first loss of the 2024 season on Saturday. During the 30-15 victory, Longhorns fans tossed debris onto the field at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium after a defensive pass interference call negated an interception. During a delay to clean the field, the officials gathered and decided to change their initial ruling without a formal review.
After the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart worried that other fans may be emboldened to take the same approach because of the reversal.
“Now we have 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 after the game. “And that’s unfortunate.”
Meyer shared similar concerns when discussing the situation on The Triple Option podcast. The SEC fined Texas $250,000 for the crowd’s actions, but the former Buckeyes head coach wouldn’t have cared if the incident benefited his team.
“You can’t do something unprecedented where people are throwing things on the field and you rally up,” Meyer said (h/t On3). “Because right now, if I’m at Ohio State, I make a signal to the fans. ‘Dump the field.’ We’ll take the, what is it, $250,000? Yeah, that’s half a suite at the stadium. Change the call.”
Meyer said he’s “torn” because the referees ultimately got it right.
“At the end of the day, you want the right call … But I think if you make a mistake, you live with it,” Meyer continued.
In an email sent to students, Texas president Jay Hartzell said the university “will use all means available” to find those who threw trash on the field and revoke their access to athletic events for the rest of the academic year. Meyer supported the decision to kick out any culprits.
Related: Texas Not Happy With Fan Base’s Behavior Against Georgia