The SEC issued penalties to the University of Texas on Sunday after its fans threw objects and trash onto the field during the third quarter of the Longhorns‘ 30-15 loss to Georgia on Saturday night.
Texas was handed a $250,000 fine, and the SEC is also requiring the university use all resources to determine which fans were throwing objects. The fans who are identified will be banned from all Texas events during the 2024-25 athletic year, as ruled by the SEC.
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The SEC also ruled that Texas must review and update its athletic department game management and alcohol availability policies. Texas and the SEC must come to an agreement on policy to comply with existing SEC standards. Lastly, Texas must conduct a report and submit it to the SEC that summarizes its efforts to find offenders of the rules and how it will prevent future occurrences from happening.
The SEC added it isn’t suspending alcohol sales privileges, but reserves the right to do so if Texas doesn’t follow the SEC’s requirements stated in the announcement.
“The throwing of debris and resulting interruption of play that took place Saturday night cannot be part of any SEC event,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in the announcement. “The SEC is assigned responsibility by its membership to enforce its sportsmanship and game management policies and these actions are consistent with that oversight responsibility, including the financial penalty and mandated reviews.”
The game was delayed late in the third quarter after Texas fans voiced their displeasure at a defensive pass interference call that initially wiped a Jahdae Barron interception. After the game was delayed due to the objects being thrown, officials picked up the flag and gave Texas the interception and possession at the Georgia 9-yard line.
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Texas football punishments from SEC
Here’s the list of punishments and requirements Texas was handed by the SEC on Sunday:
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Be assessed a financial penalty of $250,000
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Be required to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Texas athletics events for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic and athletic year
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Review and update its athletics department game management procedures and alcohol availability policies to prevent a recurrence of Saturday night’s disruption, which shall include an evaluation of agreed upon SEC sportsmanship, game management and alcohol policies to verify full compliance with existing standards
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Following completion of this review, the university shall provide a report to the conference office to summarize its efforts to identify and penalize offenders and its plan to enact policies to prevent future similar incidents while ensuring compliance with conference standards.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: SEC announces punishments for Texas football after fans throw debris
