Two weeks into the SEC football season, SEC defenses have recorded five shutouts.

If you’re scoring at home, those defenses belong to Arkansas (20-0 vs. Utah State), Auburn (34-0 vs. Mississippi State), Florida (42-0 vs. Central Florida) Georgia (18-0 vs. South Carolina) and South Carolina (15-0 vs. Mississippi State).

Compare that to last year or 2004, when there were just three shutouts in each of those seasons. In fact, in the last six seasons dating back to ’01, there has been only one season when SEC defenses have recorded more than five shutouts (seven in ’02).

So why this early rash of whitewashes?

Try this formula: One rule change plus four of the nation’s top 15 defenses plus six new starting quarterbacks equals some scoreboard operators nodding off.

First, there’s the new NCAA rule that starts the play clock as soon as the ball is deemed ready for play by the referee. Because games are sped up, there are at least 10 fewer plays per game and in some cases 20 fewer when special-teams plays are included.

"What you’re seeing now is shortened version of games," said LSU coach Les Miles, whose team has opened the season with a pair of 45-3 victories over Louisiana-Lafayette and Arizona. "So you’re not going to have the time to see second- and third-team offenses go against second and third defenses. You won’t see easy scores. Less time predictably means more shutouts."

You won’t find an SEC coach that likes the rule change to shorten the game.

"The NCAA passed that rule for TV purposes," said South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who suffered a shutout last weekend for the first time since 1987 in his first year as a college head coach at Duke (a 7-0 loss to Rutgers). "I like what Mike Leach at Texas Tech said. He said, ‘Why don’t they just give us each 20 plays and we could really speed it up.’’’

Then, there’s the high level of defensive play in the SEC. Last year, the SEC had six teams ranked in the top 20 nationally in total defense, led by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 9 Florida. After the first two games this season, the league has four teams in the top 15 of — No. 3 LSU, No. 12 Auburn and No. 14 (tied) Florida and Georgia.

And there are now new starting quarterbacks at half the league’s schools, such as true freshmen Mitch Mustain of Arkansas and Matthew Stafford of Georgia, and redshirt freshman Tray Rutland of Mississippi State.

"The new rule change is somewhat of a factor, and you know when you have a new quarterback it will slow down your offense for sure," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

"But I have such a high regard for the defensive coordinators in this league. Offensively, you’re always looking to find a mismatch against a defense, something vulnerable. When there is such speed and power and strength on defenses, it’s hard to sustain anything. It’s tough for offenses in our league to run away with a ballgame."