Lane Kiffin admits he would have 'struggled' with officiating decision in Texas vs. Georgia game

Saturday’s game between Georgia and Texas wasn’t the first time Lane Kiffin has seen fans go overboard with showing their displeasure after a flag. It is, however, the first time he can recall that it actually resulted in a change to the original call.

The Longhorns crowd took to throwing trash on the field after defensive back Jahdae Barron was called for pass interference while recording an interception. Officials joined together to discuss the play as the fans continued to grow more unruly. Ultimately, they determined that there was no foul on the play.

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Kiffin, whose Rebels were on a bye this week, happened the see the game and was asked his thoughts on the play on Monday. The coach responded with a joke about how the home crowd ultimately got what it wanted before acknowledging he would be frustrated if he were Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

“I’ve seen them try (to get a call changed),” he said. “I’ve never seen it work. I would’ve really struggled with that happening, but I think coach was very vocal about that. That would’ve been really tough to deal with.”

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Kiffin, of course, has seen hostile crowd that got out of hand before. The coach was infamously struck by a golf ball thrown from the crowd at Neyland Stadium in a 2022 game against Tennessee as fans protested a call from officials.

Thankfully, things returned to normal fairly quickly in Saturday’s game between Texas and Georgia. The Longhorns would go on to score a touchdown a few plays later to make it a one-possession game.

The call could have ended up looming large on the outcome of the game had Texas been able to complete the comeback. However, Georgia would hang on to win 30-15.

The SEC would later issue a $250,000 fine to Texas as a result of the fans throwing items onto the field.

In addition to the fine, Texas will be required to use all available resources to track down the individuals who threw things onto the field. All individuals identified will be banned from Texas athletics events for the rest of the 2024-25 athletic year.