Rule change would have benefitted Razorbacks' old offensive lines

Earlier struggles Arkansas had against shifts, twists wouldn't happen with 2025 rule changes

Former Liberty Flames coach Hugh Freeze, left, talks to Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman after the game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Liberty won 21-19. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

ATLANTA — There are some minor rule changes taking place this year in college football, notably along the line of scrimmage.

Over the past few years, defensive line coaches around the country have taken advantage of shifts in protection gaps. While that isn't the true problem, it's the simulation of movement by linemen that's brought upon a change in rules.

SEC Rule Change #1 pic.twitter.com/fmeu7O7nal

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"We've seen a lot of additional action on the defensive side of the ball prior to the ball being snapped," SEC coordinator of officals John McDaid said Tuesday. "There is a lot of what I'll call abrupt coordinated movement by the defense.

"What we've seen is over the last four or five years, the number of false starts per game has gone up, and I attribute it to what the defense is doing on that side of the ball. It's just not what I see in the Southeastern Conference, it's what my peers and I have all been seeing across the nation."

SEC coordinator of football officials John McDaid speaks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Hyatt. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Arkansas fans will vividly remember the struggle the Razorbacks had against shifts and stunts in games against Georgia in 2021 and Liberty in 2022. In those two games alone, the Razorbacks surrendered seven sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss and called for eight procedure penalties.

While that action was very disruptive in a 37-0 loss to the Bulldogs and a home upset against the Flame, the Razorbacks improved its offensive line play in 2024 under guidance from first-year line coach Eric Mateos.

Arkansas still gave up 36 sacks last season with many of those coming during the early part of the season that were unforced due to Taylen Green scrambles.

"This year a change in the football rules is we're adding a standard to the defensive side of the ball that the offense has had for a century or more," McDaid said. "The definition of a false start has forever been action that simulates the snap. That's standard, action that simulates the snap is now put on the defense as well, and the officials are being asked to judge defensive movement in that light."

The defensive linemen in the top left of the video above were doing something that is completely legal that coaches call stemming. However, the flinching action taken by the lineman to the right simulated snap movement which in turn caused the right guard to move along with him, resulting in a false start.

"That action by the two that are stemming on our left, legal, but you can see in concert with that, we have a tackle between the right guard and right tackle who's flinching," McDaid said. "He's simulating action at the snap, and it works. It makes the right guard move here.

"This is action that has now been written into the rules, codified that it's illegal, it's what we call delay of game defense. This is not a false start on the offense. The defense cannot simulate action of a snap for the purpose of trying to get his opponent to move prior to the snap."