The Arizona State Sun Devils took care of business Saturday with a blowout 70-7 win over the Morgan State Bears.
The score might have been even more lopsided if not for a surprising decision before the start of the fourth quarter. The two teams talked and decided to put only 10 minutes on the clock in the final quarter.
That came as a surprise to ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham, who shared his thoughts on the matter in the postgame press conference.
Arizona State HC Explains Clock Decision
Dillingham spoke after the game and revealed he didn’t even know shortening the clock was possible.
“The referees came over and said ‘coach, on the other side, asked if we could shorten the quarter,'” he said, via Griffin S. DeMarrais. “I said, ‘yeah, of course. Whatever he wants we’ll do.’ I’ve never been a part of a game like that. I didn’t know that was legal. I learned something today.”
This is something usually reserved for lower levels of football. However, it was a good act of sportsmanship by Dillingham to accept the offer as the game was out of reach from the start. No points ended up being scored in the shortened quarter as both teams just wanted the game to end.
Morgan State is done playing FBS opponents for the year and can go home with some valuable experience and a nice payday for the program. The Bears did pick up a win last week, so they can quickly put this loss behind them.
Blowouts Were a Trend in Week 1
The Sun Devils took the classic scheduled victory in Week 1 over an FCS opponent. That was seen all over college football as some lopsided scores showed up. The only FCS team to prevail was Tarleton State, which took down Bowling Green.
Morgan State never stood a chance against a superior opponent in Arizona State and it raises the question if such games are necessary anymore. The College Football Playoff continues to expand and it may make more sense to schedule all FBS opponents if one loss won’t derail a team’s title hopes.
The FCS schools, however, enjoy the paydays that come with such games. Arizona State reportedly paid Morgan State $600,000 to take the game, per “The Arizona Republic.” That is tough money to turn down, even if the players are put on the field for an automatic loss.
Arizona State can now focus on the real 2026 schedule as they head to Texas A&M next week for a showdown with the No. 8 ranked Aggies. That game will be the true test of the Sun Devils’ talent and actual potential for the season.
Arizona State HC Describes Decision to Shorten 4th Quarter