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Joel Klatt says overturned PI call in Georgia-Texas game set officiating back decades
By Mark Kern
Published:
Joel Klatt was on the call for the Indiana and Nebraska game, but he was like many of us across the country watching the big game between Georgia and Texas in Week 8. The Bulldogs dominated that game for the majority of the night, winning by a score of 30-15.
One of the biggest talking points from the game though was the overturned pass interference that allowed Texas to make it interesting. Carson Beck threw an interception to Texas DB Jahdae Barron who retuned the ball to the 9-yard line. While it was originally negated because of a pass interference call, the referees took the PI away while talking during the delay for the Texas students throwing stuff on the field.
Klatt compared the decision to overturn the call to when you see a kid crying in a store to get candy.
“They changed the call,” Klatt said. “I have never in my life seen something like this, never. They changed the call. They rewarded the child throwing a fit in the candy aisle at your local grocery store to get his mom to buy him a Snickers. When you see that in the grocery store, aren’t you like I can’t believe that parent just allowed that kid to throw a fit and get his way? I do. My kid has been on the floor in the store, guess what he didn’t get, candy!”
While Klatt agrees there shouldn’t have been a pass interference called in the first place, you can’t go back and change the call.
“Was it the correct call, yes,” Klatt said. “Would I have loved for them to get the correct call, yes. But the precedent that this set. What those officials did in that game on Saturday in Austin Texas set officiating back decades. I can’t believe they reversed the call. You cannot do that. It is not a reviewable call. What are they doing? I couldn’t believe it, and I hope it doesn’t continue. In order for it to not continue, they may have to make new rules.”
That play helped Texas cut a 23-0 halftime deficit to 23-15, and it gave the Longhorns all kinds of momentum. Georgia was able to go back down the field and score a touchdown, and the rest is history.
