Kirby Smart reacts to Parker Jones' interference penalty

During the second quarter of Thursday night's Sugar Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Georgia walk-on Parker Jones interfered with a referee on the sideline as Arian Smith went 67 yards down the sideline to the Notre Dame 11-yard line. The interference penalty moved the Bulldogs back 15 yards and they would eventually settle for a field goal.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, speaking after the game, said the penalty affected the game, but the team's execution was off the entire game.

"Very unfortunate," Smart told the Athens Banner-Herald. "I think it was a player, from what I've been told, in the white, and the white is reserved for the officials. That's a safety concern. Most of the time, they'll grant you a warning on that, but it was not—it was a situation where it cost us 15 yards. We still had first and 10 and didn't take advantage of it. "

Georgia was given a sideline interference penalty after the official collided with No. 39 Parker Jones during this play. pic.twitter.com/oGpMKUqAr6
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 2, 2025

While the penalty cost the Bulldogs 15 yards, the game was in the second quarter and tied at zero. Georgia has many more opportunities to score but Notre Dame's defense stymied them, holding the Bulldogs to 296 yards of total offense and 10 points. Georgia went 2-for-12 on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth.

The Bulldogs will join their fellow conference championship winners Oregon, Boise State, Arizona State and Clemson on the couch for the remainder of the playoff while Notre Dame will move on to play Penn State.