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Matthew McConaughey on Texas Fans to Throwing Trash on Field: We're Better Than That

Scott Polacek

Actor Matthew McConaughey standing on the sidelines for marquee games has become synonymous with Texas football, and he wasn't happy with how things unfolded when fans threw bottles and trash on the field during Saturday's loss to Georgia.

"But let's get real about the bottle bombing the field glitch we had," he said in a statement. "Not cool. Bogey move. Yeah, that call was BS, but we're better than that. Longhorn Nation knows how to show up, show out like no other, and still keep our class.

"So, going forward, let's clean that kind of BS up and leave that behind us for good. We have to shake hands on that."

Georgia jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead, but Texas built momentum in the third quarter. After trimming the deficit to 23-8, the Longhorns intercepted a Carson Beck pass and returned it deep inside Bulldogs' territory.

However, the officials initially called defensive pass interference that wiped out the pick, which enraged the fans. Some of them responded by throwing the bottles and garbage onto the field, although the officials eventually changed the penalty call and allowed the interception to stand.

"I won't comment because I want to respect the wishes of the SEC office," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart told reporters after the game. "But I will say now we have 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."

The SEC released a statement that said, in part, "While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time."

It also fined Texas $250,000

The Longhorns cut the lead to 23-15 following the controversial sequence, but Georgia seized control once again in the fourth quarter and won 30-15.

Fortunately for McConaughey and the rest of the Longhorns fans, there is room for error with the 12-team College Football Playoff field. Texas surely still controls its own destiny even after the loss and doesn't play a particularly imposing schedule the rest of the way by SEC standards.

No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 25 Vanderbilt are the only remaining ranked teams on the slate, and it avoids the likes of Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri. That should be plenty of wins in front of a fanbase that will be under more of a spotlight after Saturday.

   

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