What happened on the controversial Jahdae Barron interception?
Jahdae Barron’s interception late in the third quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs created one of the most controversial moments of the Longhorns’ short tenure in the Southeastern Conference.
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Barron intercepted Carson Beck for the second time Saturday, but the officials announced he had been flagged for defensive pass interference. The call was no doubt peculiar as it appeared Arian Smith was blocking Barron at the time of the throw and penalty.
What ensued was craziness. Barron returned the interception to the 9-yard line. The penalty was announced. Steve Sarkisian was livid on the sidelines. Almost all of the entire record-crowd joined Sark in berating the referees.
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Texas’ student section started throwing debris onto the field, creating a delay. During that pause in the game, the call was changed and Texas received possession at the nine.
Here was the SEC’s explanation.
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.
Barron spoke about the sequence after the game.
“It was crazy,” Barron said. “The level of love we have from the fans is tremendous and amazing.”
Did he think it was a penalty on him?
“I knew it wasn’t,” he said. “I asked the ref… he was kind of pushing me. I didn’t think it was.”
The explanation?
“He told me ‘I don’t know,'” Barron added.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart took a different approach. Via On3 Georgia affiliate Dawgs HQ:
“He just said the guy got it wrong,” Smart shared with reporters in his postgame press conference when asked what he had been told by officials. “The guy called it on the wrong guy, which it took him a long time to realize that.”
“It’s one of those things that I don’t know what I’m allowed to say or not say,” Smart continued, “so I won’t comment because I want to respect the wishes of the SEC office.”
That’s not necessarily the same tone the ninth-year Georgia head coach took during his postgame interview with ESPN.
“They tried to rob us with calls in this place,” Smart said as part of a larger answer.
The play was pivotal as it set up the Longhorns’ final score of the game.
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But it was also controversial, and because of the debris it may cost Texas some amount of money once the SEC office gets around to their to do list on Monday.
