Here is the full statement from the SEC Office, on the 'overturned PI call in the UGA - TX game:
"With 3:12 to play in the third quarter of the Georgia at Texas game, Texas intercepted a pass at the Texas 46-yard line and returned it to the Texas 9 yard line. Texas was flagged for committing defensive pass interference on the play which resulted in Georgia maintaining the ball with a first down.
The game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference. Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9 yard line.
While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time.
The disruption of the game due to debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures."
Here are the ACTUAL facts, verified by the telecast: TX flagged for PI. Officials gather to confirm the call with the referee. Referee confirms, and the officials dispurse. The referee then announces the confirmed penalty to the crowd, and SPOTS the ball at the penalty spot, and the yardage chains are moved.
The TX jumbotron starts showing the replay over and over again. And the students/crowd starts throwing objects onto the field, and at the UGA players. This goes on for several minutes, before the crowd settles down. Coach Smart pulls the Georgia players off the field for their safety, who had already started to huddle at the penalty spot, ready to play.
After a couple of minutes dozens of Texas cheerleaders, staff and security pick up the 100s of bottles and debris from the field. The jumbotron continues to play the replay of the play over and over again. The Texas fans are screaming their loudest of the entire game, along with the Texas coaches screaming at the officials, who have now convened in the middle of the field.
The officials have now huddled in the center of the field. You can see them looking at the jumbotron replays. After a 1 minute discussion, the referee breaks their huddle and announces the overturned call.
The SEC statement reads "The game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference. Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9 yard line."
This statement is 100% FALSE! They did gather right after the call to discuss, and IMMEDIATELY confirmed and announced the PI penalty, and proceeded to spot the ball at the penalty spot, and move the yardage chains. They did not gather again until 4-5 mins after their original gathering, after the fans throwing the objects on the field.
Their statement is misleading and false. And the SEC office should be held accountable for such a blatantly false and misleading statement.
As a coach and former player, the PI call was questionable. That is part of the game. But for the SEC Office to issue a false and misleading statement, trying to acknowledge and justify the actions and conduct of this officiating crew is despicable.
www.facebook.com
