The SEC announced a new rule at SEC Media Days last week, and this rule seems to be targeting a strategy Georgia football has been utilizing to their advantage on defense. This rule change will penalize defenses that have "actions that simulate the snap" before the snap actually occurs.
Up until this point defenses have been able to shift and move as much as they want before the snap, but this change could significantly alter how Georgia's defensive line operates going forward.
Georgia's defense targeted with new rule change
Georgia's defensive line specifically is known to shift or stem before the offense snaps the ball quite often. These movements serve two purposes. The first is to try to cause an offensive line to flinch resulting in a false start penalty on the offense. The second reason is to create confusion among the offensive linemen regarding who their blocking assignment is right before the snap.
This strategy has helped Georgia have one of the best defensive lines in the country for many years now, but the SEC is looking like they want to end that.
The problem with this rule, like many college football rules, is that the shifts that are now illegal for a defense to do before the snap are not defined. This means officials will have the freedom to decide what is and isn't legal on the fly which is a recipe for disaster.
Time will tell if this rule change actually impacts Kirby Smart and Georgia or not, but the hope is that UGA will be able to operate as they have been for years now. Georgia's defense is arguably the biggest reason why the Bulldogs have become the best program in the country this decade, so the SEC limiting what they can do before the snap could jeopardize future success on the defensive side of the ball.