A 54-minute game? TCU, Duquesne agree to 12-minute quarters in the second half
Most college football games are 60 minutes with four 15-minute quarters. But TCU and Duquesne decided that 54 minutes would be enough on Saturday night.
The referee announced before the second-half kickoff that the schools agreed to reduce the quarters to 12 minutes in the second half. TCU had a 35-0 lead at halftime and went on to a 45-3 victory.
“They asked to go down to 12 minutes and I agreed,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “They had like five or six guys who had gone out. I think the heat had taken its toll on them, plus other things. It was a good thing.”
Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt pointed to his team’s depth as the reason why he asked to shorten the game.
“I was personally concerned because at our level, we don’t, our backup guys are walk-on Division III-type players,” Schmitt said. “To put some of them in to protect, some of the skill guys. I appreciate Gary doing that.”
It’s unclear when the last time, if ever, TCU played a game less than 60 minutes in length. But teams agreeing to shorten quarters has happened before.
Louisiana and Texas Southern agreed to 10-minute quarters in the second half of a 2019 nonconference game. Louisiana had a 56-6 halftime lead and went on to a 77-6 victory.
NCAA rules allow shortened halves if there is mutual agreement between the opposing head coaches and the referee.
A running clock is not allowed by the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
The shortened quarters impacted fans who bet on the game. Not every book offers FBS vs. FCS matchups but insiders suggested the books that had the game on the board pegged TCU as a 42-point favorite, which was TCU’s margin of victory. However, most books require 55-minute games for those bets to count.
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 9:25 PM.
