Georgia’s Kirby Smart Talks ‘Very Unfortunate’ Sideline Interference vs. Notre Dame

Jack MurrayJanuary 3, 2025

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart labeled the costly sideline interference penalty in Thursday’s 23-10 Sugar Bowl loss as “unfortunate.

The Bulldogs were assessed a 15-yard penalty that lessened a 67-yard passing completion to Arian Smith. The penalty occurred when a referee collided with inactive walk-on Parker Jones, who was celebrating the exciting play.

SportsCenter @SportsCenterGeorgia was given a sideline interference penalty after the official collided with No. 39 Parker Jones during this play. pic.twitter.com/oGpMKUqAr6

Georgia would be pushed back to the Notre Dame 26-yard line after previously reaching the 11-yard line and would settle for a field goal on the drive. Following the game, Smart acknowledged that while the penalty hurt, the team still didn’t execute properly.

“Very unfortunate,” Smart said, per Marc Weiszer of 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. ”

The loss came in the quarterfinal round of the College Football Playoff and ended the Bulldogs’ season with a final record of 10-3.

While this play was unfortunate, it did occur in the second quarter and the Bulldogs had numerous chances to push back against the Fighting Irish. Instead, Notre Dame limited Georgia to just 296 yards and forced them to go 2-of-12 on third down and 0-of-3 on fourth down.

The Bulldogs will now watch from afar for the remainder of the season and focus on discipline and efficiency in 2025.