Old Dominion vs. North Carolina Shortened as Tar Heels Score 80 in 3 Quarters

After North Carolina scored 80 points in the first three quarters against Old Dominion on Saturday, Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora and Monarchs head coach Bobby Wilder agreed to shorten the fourth quarter in the game to 10 minutes.

Harold Gutmann of the The Herald-Sun (Durham) reported the news:

The score heading into the final quarter was 80-20, and that's how the game ended.

North Carolina had a chance to add to its score with under two minutes remaining but chose to take a knee on 4th-and-goal instead of running up the score, as Andrew Siciliano of NFL.com noted:

Blowouts are never fun for the losing team, but it's extremely rare for two college football teams to be compelled into such an action. That said, this is the second time this season in which a game has been shortened like this. 

Miami (Fla.) and Savannah State's game back in September was shortened similarly, with the fourth quarter shortened to 12 minutes in the Hurricanes' 77-7 win.

Whereas that matchup featured two completely mismatched squads, Old Dominion's loss to North Carolina is slightly more surprising. The Tar Heels were favored to win, but only by 17 points, per Odds Shark.

Furthermore, the Monarchs will be transitioning to a full FBS schedule next season and came into this contest with a record of 8-3. Nobody expected this kind of domination by North Carolina.

Old Dominion was helpless to defend North Carolina's offensive attack on Saturday, as the final score indicates. Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams passed for 409 yards with five touchdowns, and running back T.J. Logan added three more scores on the ground.

In total, nine touchdowns were scored by North Carolina, which secured bowl eligibility with its sixth win of the season after starting the year 1-5, as noted by UNC Tar Heels:

This was the final game of the season for the Monarchs. The loss will certainly stick with Old Dominion this offseason as it prepares for its move to Conference USA in 2014.

North Carolina—now bowl-eligible—has one final test before the postseason begins. Duke (9-2) will come to town next weekend to close out the season, and the Tar Heels will have their hands full coming up with win No. 7.

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