SEC Fines Texas $250,000 After Fans Trash Home Field

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Texas Longhorns fans made a mess out of the playing field at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19 in Austin, Texas. The following day, the Southeastern Conference assessed a $250,000 fine and other penalties against the University of Texas after students threw beer cans, water bottles and other debris onto the field. The incident occurred during the third quarter of a 30-15 victory by No. 2 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) victory over the No. 5 Texas Longhorns (6-1, 2-1).

In a statement released by the SEC on Oct. 20, the conference noted that third-quarter play was interrupted by the fans' actions. The conference stressed that these actions played a role in "interrupting the competitive opportunity for both teams and endangering contest participants."

Texas Hears From Sankey

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey had some pointed comments about the incident. "The throwing of debris and resulting interruption of play that took place Saturday night cannot be part of any SEC event," Sankey said. "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."

Furthermore, the SEC indicated that its actions were taken in compliance with the SEC Bylaws and Commissioner's Regulations related to having alcoholic beverages available at athletic events. The language from the SEC regulations states: "If cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege."

School Must Conduct Official Review

The SEC is not immediately suspending University of Texas alcohol sales privileges. But, the SEC made it clear that the university must meet requirements spelled out by the conference.

Beyond the $250,000 fine, the SEC has informed Texas it must "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." Identified individuals will be prohibited from attending official Texas athletic events for the rest of the 2024-25 academic year.

Additionally, Texas must review and update all Athletics Department game management procedures and alcohol availability policies to "prevent a recurrence of Saturday night's disruption." When the university has finished the review, it will be required by the SEC to provide a report to conference officials, detailing its findings and proposed remedial actions.

Pass Interference: Yes or No?

This situation grew out of the unhappiness of fans and students with a pass interference call against Texas' Jahdae Barron, who intercepted a pass from Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. Barron ran the ball back down inside the Georgia 10-yard line. But officials initially threw a flag, claiming the Texas player pushed off for defensive pass interference.

After the call, the Texas student section started littering the field. It got so bad that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian walked over to the student section and held up his hands, imploring the students to stop. Texas cheerleaders and other student representatives quickly picked up all the trash.

Sarkisian was not pleased with the officials' initial call.

During the delay in the game caused by the littering, officials conferred and overturned the pass interference penalty, setting the Longhorns up in good field position.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was livid, yelling and screaming at the officials, to no avail.

The Texas offense then scored its second touchdown, narrowing the Longhorns' deficit to 23-15 at that point.

Afer the game, the SEC issued a statement indicating that on-field officials made the right call to ultimately not issue a penalty. Smart had a different viewpoint. In a postgame interview with ESPN, he said, “They tried to rob us with calls in this place. And [our players] are so resilient.”