The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has introduced new rules on how defenders should hit an opposing quarterback, establishing a "strike zone" of sorts.

According to ESPN, any player on defense may hit an "offensive player in a passing posture" anywhere below the neck and above the knee. The new rule should lessen the amount of knee, ankle and head injuries among quarterbacks.

"This is a player safety issue," Steve Shaw, SEC coordinator of officials, said during the SEC Media Days.

The new rule will apply to passers whether they in the pocket or not, but defenders will not be penalized if they are pushed into a QB by a blocker.

"When a player is under his own power, he's directing his hit and he chooses to go low, that is going to be a foul," Shaw said. "This rule change, I think, will create the player behavior change."

As arguably the most competitive of the five Division I power conferences, the SEC can influence change in the NCAA with their rule changes. Last year, the NCAA added an immediate ejection to a 15-yard penalty for targeting a defenseless player. During this year's SEC Media Days, Shaw called last year's rule change "the biggest... of my officiating career."

"What were the results of that?" he said. "Well, first of all, let me say we simply had to change player behavior for the good of the game. I believe we started to see this type of player behavior change that we were looking for."

Thanks to these new rules, Shaw said the NCAA can expect college football to be a safer game than it has been in the past.

"Any time there's a targeting foul, you need to really listen to the referee's announcement," he said. "What you will hear... makes all the difference for replay. If you hear him announce, 'Personal foul, roughing the passer with targeting,' now regardless of the review, that 15-yard penalty is going to stand for roughing the passer.

"Same thing with kick/catch interference with targeting, late hit with targeting. In that announcement, if there are multiple components to the targeting foul, the 15-yard penalty will stay in."