"Disgusting and disgraceful moment": Paul Finebaum stands behind Kirby Smart as he delivers his verdict on controversial call

ESPN's Paul Finebaum has given his verdict on one of the most talked about moments between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs last weekend. The incident occurred in the stands rather than on the field.

After disagreeing with a call made by the officials, Longhorns fans threw bottles onto the field, stopping play for a couple of minutes. The act of protest, which has been heavily criticized by much of the college football world, worked in the end, as the officials reversed the call in favor of Texas.

On Thursday's edition of "The Audible" podcast, Finebaum gave his response to the incident:

“It was a really disgusting and disgraceful moment. … It was a terrible look for everyone. It looked like the crowd influence and the outcome that’s for third-world universes, not for college football."

One coach who has spoken about the precedent set by an unruly display leading to an overturned call is Georgia's Kirby Smart, whose comments mirrored those of Paul Finebaum.

"The guy called it on the wrong guy, which it took him a long time to realize that," Smart said. "So, it’s one of those things that I don’t know what I’m allowed to say or not say, so I won’t comment because I want to respect the wishes of the SEC office.

"I will say they’ve established 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. That’s unfortunate."

Steve Sarkisian gives his verdict on the incident

Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian also reacted to the incident on Saturday night.

"We all were frustrated in the moment. But, you know … all of Longhorn Nation, I know we can be better than that,” Sarkisian said.

The Longhorns were fined $250,000 for the incident, and fans who have been identified as taking part have received bans for the rest of the season.

However, while these things have been done to punish and prevent an incident from happening again, it does not address the precedent that Kirby Smart is worried about.

The protest worked, and even if the decision was made without any influence from fans, their reactions will forever be linked to the overturn.

Georgia won the Southeastern Conference showdown at then-No. 1 Texas 30-15 and moved up three spots to No. 2 in the AP Top 25. Texas fell to No. 5.