Georgia coach Kirby Smart called a sideline interference penalty early in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame “very unfortunate.”
Arian Smith converted a 67-yard catch and run in the second quarter in a 23-10 loss to the Irish, but Georgia walk-on Parker Jones collided with an official on the sideline, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
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“Very unfortunate,” Smart said Thursday after the game “We had – they said a coach, but 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 a – it was a situation where it cost us 15 yards. We still had 1st and 10 and didn’t take advantage of it.
Instead of first and 10 from the 11 the Bulldogs set up at the 31-yard line and settled for a field goal.
“I call those things undisciplined, self-imposed wounds that you lose momentum on,” Smart said. “So, it’s just something you can’t have happen.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
