Georgia's Kirby Smart calls out ESPN and says referee 'tried to rob us' after Texas win

Georgia football made a statement Saturday night as the Bulldogs defeated No. 1 Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

After a dominant performance from its defense, Georgia defeated Texas 30-15 on Saturday, handing the Longhorns their first loss of the season and first loss as members of the SEC. It's a performance by the Bulldogs – who were a rare underdog on Saturday – that caused a candid Kirby Smart to retire during a postgame interview with ABC's Katie Georgia.

Required reading: Georgia vs. Texas football final score: Updates, highlights from the SEC showdown in Week 8

“These players bring out the best in me. I'm so proud of these guys because nobody believed (in us),” Smart said in a postgame interview with ABC's Holly Rowe. “Nobody gave us a chance. Your entire network doubted us. Nobody believed us. Then they tried to rob us at that place with calls. These guys are so resilient.”

“We talked about intentions. What was our intention when we entered the field? Our intention wasn't to take photos. I'm not interested in all the bells and whistles. What I want is a team that struggles and they did that tonight.

The call Smart was referring to was an overturned defensive pass interference call against Texas in the third quarter. The penalty, which initially negated a Longhorns interception inside the 10-yard line, was overturned by officials after the game was delayed because Texas fans threw trash onto the field following the call.

While he didn't specifically mention who doubted his team on ESPN, one could point out that the entire “College GameDay” crew and guest player Scottie Scheffler all played for Texas in Saturday's game. According to BetMGM, the Bulldogs were 4.5 point underdogs against the Longhorns on Thursday.

With the win, Georgia improved to 6-1 on the season and has a chance to reclaim its preseason ranking and be the No. 1 overall team in the country in Sunday's national polls.

This article originally appeared in the Athens Banner-Herald: Fiery Kirby Smart calls out ESPN and officials after Georgia win over Texas