ATHENS, Ga. — Amid carefree talk of starting lineups, one public notice to the Sanford Stadium crowd on a recent Saturday stood out: Beginning Oct. 1, the University of Georgia will be among the academic institutions in this state that prohibit tobacco products from its campuses.

At the 31 public colleges and universities that make up the University System of Georgia, smoking will be forbidden. The use of chewing tobacco could lead to a penalty. And even products that “simulate the use of tobacco,” including e-cigarettes, are scheduled for banishment.

But of all the questions that complement the new regulations, the one that seems to loom largest here centers on the extent to which the University of Georgia should enforce the ban. Officials in Atlanta talk of a vigorous campaign to eliminate tobacco from campuses that thousands of people visit each day, but students openly doubt that administrators will impose sanctions on violators, and many predict the ban will be ignored and defied.

“Hypothetically, yes, it’d be nice to have a tobacco-free world,” said Beni Kozen, a junior, who nursed a cigarette before a physics test on a recent afternoon. “But sometimes you just need a study break and a stress-relief break.”