'Absolutely not': Kent State declined Tennessee's offer to shorten game in 71-0 loss
No. 7 Tennessee was leading 65-0 at halftime Saturday night at Neyland Stadium when the Vols offered Kent State a shortened second half. The Golden Flashes declined, though, and the full 60 minutes was played with the Vols setting multiple program scoring records in the 71-0 win.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel confirmed during his postgame press conference that the offer was made.
“You’d have to talk to our administration on that side of it,” Heupel said. “And I say that meaning that it was something that was talked about but ultimately didn’t happen.”
Kent State coach Kenni Burns said his program declined “because that’s not who we are.”
“That’s not who we are as a football team,” he said. “That’s not who we are as a culture. There are a lot of teams that lost today in lump sums; they’re not getting running clocks. A football game is a football game.
“I talked to our captains about it, and they said absolutely not. I said absolutely not. It’s just not who we are at all as a football program. No way.”
NCAA rules allow shortened quarters if all parties agree
NCAA rules allow quarters to be shortened if there is a mutual agreement between the two teams and the officiating crew: “Any time during the game, the playing time of any remaining period or periods may be shortened by mutual agreement of the opposing head coaches and the referee.”
South Alabama led Northwestern State 80-10 after the third quarter Thursday night, with the two sides agreeing to a nine-minute fourth quarter, shortening the game by six minutes with South Alabama on the way to an 87-10 win.
Stephen F. Austin was leading North American University 70-0 at halftime on August 29 when the second half was shortened to five-minutes quarters. The Lumberjacks won 77-0.
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Tennessee set modern-era program records for scoring in a game at Neyland Stadium (71 points), scoring in a half (65) and scoring in a quarter (37). The Vols also set a new program record with 740 yards of total offense.
The previous records were 70 points in a 70-3 win over UL Monroe in 2000, 52 points in the first half against UT Martin in 2022 and 35 points scored in the first quarter against Arkansas in 2000. The previous record for total offense was 724, set in the 2022 win over Missouri.
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC
Tennessee finished Saturday night with 456 yards rushing and 284 yards passing. The Vols nearly had three running backs go over 100 yards rushing, with DeSean Bishop going for 120 yards and two touchdowns, Dylan Sampson running for 101 yards and four touchdowns and freshman Peyton Lewis finished a yard short with 99 yards.
Nico Iamalavea completed 10 of 16 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown before being pulled midway through the second quarter. Backup Gaston Moore completed all four of his pass attempts for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jake Merklinger completed 2 of 4 passes for 17 yards and also rushed four times for 21 yards.
“Just as a football team, started fast,” Heupel said. “There’s some things that we got to clean up. But all in all, good performance. Controlled the line of scrimmage, got off the field on third down. Offensively, was able to run the football and create some big plays as well. Special teams was a solid performance as well.”
