Arizona State, Morgan State agreed to reduce fourth quarter of blowout to 10 minutes

On the same day that a college football game consisted of one second more than 60 minutes, another college football game had five minutes fewer than the usual amount.

Like many early-season games featuring an established program against an FCS slappie, Saturday’s game between Arizona State and Morgan State turned into a blowout. Andwith the Sun Devils leading 70-7 after three quarters, the two teams agreed to shrink the fourth quarter to 10 minutes.

Advertisement

“I’ve never been a part of a game like that,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dilligham told reporters after the game, via Bailey Leasure of ArizonaSports.com. “I didn’t even know that was legal, but I learned something today. When he asked to shorten it. I said, ‘Whatever he wants, we’ll do.’”

Arizona State had scored 28 points, 21 points, and 21 points in the first three quarters, respectively. Neither team scored in the final 10 minutes, which consisted of 19 total plays.

It’s a strange outcome, to say the least. And it opens the door to a situation in which certain potential wagers would be undermined by a 60-minute game shrinking unexpectedly to 55 minutes.

But it also opens the door to a new universe of potential prediction markets: Will the game be shortened by the agreement of the teams for reasons other than the weather?