Kirby Smart gives his take on officials being influenced to reverse decision: "If you throw a bunch of stuff you have a chance"

Coach Kirby Smart led the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs to a convincing 30-15 win over the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin's Week 8 college football action. The Bulldogs were slight underdogs for the game but they put in a dominant performance, opening up a 23-0 lead by halftime.

In the third quarter, Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception, which was caught and returned to Gerogia's 9-yard line by Longhorns defensive back Jahdae Barron. A flag was immediately thrown up, citing defensive pass interference.

After watching replays, the Texas student section reacted poorly to the call by throwing bottles onto the field, leading to a stoppage for five minutes. Smart's team was awarded a first down instead of Texas getting a first-and-goal. After the disruption, the official's call was reversed and the interception was allowed.

Steve Sarkisian's team went on to score, narrowing the gap to 23-15. During his postgame news conference, Kirby Smart was livid with the officiating and warned that the behavior of the Longhorns fans influenced the official's call.

“(The official) just said the (official) got it wrong,” Smart said. “That he called it on the wrong guy, which – it took him a long time to realize that. It’s one of those things where 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.

“But I will say that now we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, that you have a chance to get your call reversed. That’s unfortunate because to me that’s dangerous. That’s not what we want. That’s not criticizing officials. That’s what happened.”

Kirby Smart rants against ESPN and referees

The Longhorns were favorites for the game against coach Kirby Smart's Georgia in Week 8 action and during his postgame news conference, the Bulldogs coach went on a rant against ESPN analysts for favoring Texas and the officials for their controversial calls.

“Nobody gave us a chance,” Smart said. “Your whole network doubted us. Nobody believed us. And then they tried to rob us with calls, in this place. And these guys are so resilient.

“We talked about intent. What was our intent when we walked on the field? Our intent was not to take pictures. Not to do all the superstar stuff. Our intent was to eat.”

After the loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa in Week 5 action, Kirby Smart has reestablished Georgia as the team to beat this season with the massive win over the Texas Longhorns in Austin.