Georgia football on Thursday became the fourth and final team with a first-round bye to be eliminated from the College Football Playoff after its Sugar Bowl loss to No. 7 Notre Dame.
In the midst of the Bulldogs’ third loss of the season came a rare sideline inference penalty by a member of their roster who was inactive for Thursday’s game: Parker Jones. However, he was part of one of the most impactful plays in the first half of the game.
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton connected with wide receiver Arian Smith for a 67-yard pass down to the Notre Dame 11-yard line in the second quarter, setting up what was at that time the Bulldogs’ best scoring opportunity in a 0-0 tie. But the Bulldogs were moved back 15 yards, to the Notre Dame 26, after side judge JB Garza ran into Jones as he followed the play down the sideline.
Jones was assessed the penalty because of Article 5 of the ‘Game Administration and Sideline Interference’ in the NCAA rulebook, which states ‘physical interference with an official is a foul charged to the team for unsportsmanlike conduct.’
Said Georgia coach Kirby Smart of the penalty:
‘Very unfortunate,’ Smart said. ‘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.’
Georgia ended up settling for a field goal, its only score of the first half, to go up 3-0. ESPN broadcasters Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy kept going back to Jones throughout the broadcast — so much so that observers believed ESPN was implying Jones was the reason the Bulldogs were upset by the Irish.
‘The one play that should not be forgotten, will certainly be talked about in the postmortems, is the play at the beginning of the second quarter,’ McDonough said in the fourth quarter.
College football fans on social media took issue with ESPN’s focus on Jones, as the Fighting Irish were largely dominant in the 23-10 victory. The Notre Dame defense recovered two Georgia fumbles, one of which led directly to a Riley Leonard touchdown. Moreover, Jayden Harrison returned the opening second-half kickoff 98 yards for a score.
With that, here’s how social media reacted to ESPN’s focus on Jones in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl broadcast:
Social media reacts to ESPN’s focus on Georgia’s Parker Jones
With the loss, Georgia concludes its season with an 11-3 record. Meanwhile, Notre Dame now advances to the CFP Orange Bowl semifinals against No. 6 Penn State on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Hard Rock Stadium.