SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the conference are cracking down on faked injuries, finally addressing an issue that has plagued the league for years.
“Play football and stop the feigned injury nonsense,” Sankey said in a memo to the league teams.
The rule change comes at the perfect time for the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs, who face the No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday. Ole Miss is the SEC’s most well-known offender of the feigned injury rule. Under head coach Lane Kiffin, the Rebels have had several occasions this season when players went down at the insistence of a teammate.
Ole Miss utilized the practice both on defense and offense. The most common time a fake injury benefits a defense is when the opposing offense is in a rhythm and running no-huddle plays. Offenses have also begun using the tactic to save valuable timeouts.
Any team that violates the policy faces a fine of $50,000 on the first offense, $100,000 on the second offense and a head coach suspension for one game on the third offense.
“I respect commissioner Sankey and what he sends out. We don’t condone that on our team or within our program, so we don’t have to address it. We just tell them that if they’re injured stay down and if not, you get up and go play. That’s just our philosophy,” Kirby Smart said about the SEC’s rule change.
Ole Miss not having the fake injury tactic (without punishment at least) certainly helps Georgia. The Bulldogs will need every advantage they can get against Ole Miss, which has the No. 1 scoring offense in the SEC (42.1 ppg).
