Mercy rules are typically used only in Peewee League football, but mercy was called for in college football Thursday night.
The Miami Hurricanes beat up on Florida A&M Rattlers so badly on Thursday that a little-known and even more seldom-used mercy rule was invoked to end the misery. With A&M down 77-7, the head coaches and referee decided enough was enough.
“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,” NCAA rules state.
No one was surprised by the outcome.
The Hurricanes were a nearly 60-point favorite going into the night’s action.
Florida A&M’s lone contribution to the scoreboard came on a 72-yard scoop-and-score in the fourth quarter that merely accomplished the feat of preventing a shutout, as the game was well out of hand at that point.
Miami got the win, of course, but also made history. The Canes set a school record with 856 yards of total offense. Their 77-point total matched a previous school high, and their unfathomable 42 first downs set an ACC record.
“We had an opportunity to play a lot of guys and see how they fit into our plans and what their roles can be moving forward. Nowadays in college football, that’s invaluable,” Cristobal said.
“You have to play guys; you really can’t look at the clock or the scoreboard. You just have to continue developing your roster, and we attempted to do that tonight.”