Texas sets troubling precedent by not punishing fans for throwing bottles vs. Georgia

Texas has concluded its investigation of fans throwing bottles at referees during their loss to Georgia earlier this season, and announced that no fans would be punished for the actions, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN).

In their report to the SEC, Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte told the league that they were unable to find any of the offending parties on video in order to punish them. This comes after the SEC fined the school $250,000 and threatened to ban the sale of alcohol at games, while also ordering them to find and ban all offending parties from future games.

"Despite our best effort, we have not been able to identify the individuals at issue. We will take action if new identifying information comes to light," Del Conte said in his letter. The school also told the league that they'd added additional security cameras and personnel to watch the student section, and reiterated their apology to Georgia and the league.

The trouble came when a controversial pass interference call was made against Texas, who were trailing 23-8 at that point and facing a Georgia team driving into their territory. Fans immediately expressed displeasure with the call, pelting the officials and the field with boos and bottles of various kinds and forcing a stoppage in play. The call was eventually reversed, and no penalty was given.

Color me skeptical that Texas was unable to locate a single, solitary fan who threw a bottle onto the field that night. Darrell K. Royal stadium is a state-of-the art facility, and there's no way that security cameras, television cameras, or security personnel didn't catch anyone throwing things onto the field. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it feels unlikely.

Instead, what Texas has done here is give fans a free pass to pull this stunt again in the future. Angry that the refs gave your opponent a touchdown? Huck some bottles! Upset that your offense got called for holding? Time to throw some trash!

I'm not saying the Longhorns were going to catch everyone who threw stuff that night; that wouldn't be possible. But throwing their hands up and saying "Well, we tried but we couldn't catch any of those sneaky kids!" feels like the equivalent of tacit approval of the behavior. It's notable that the university didn't go into any detail about what their investigation into the incident entailed; according to the AP, there was only a single paragraph about the actual investigation in the 10-page document sent to the SEC. The rest focused on game day procedures and changes the Longhorns have made or intend to make.

The SEC's response to this will be interesting; the league famously has a fairly low tolerance for being jerked around by its members. But in the meantime, Texas has set a very troubling precedent for fans who disrupt games with their actions and could find itself in much hotter water if it happens again.

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Texas not punishing fans for throwing bottles at referees vs. Georgia sets dangerous precedent

By Sam Westmoreland | Dec 5, 2024