4th Quarter Covers - Week 10
By Joe Nelson
VegasInsider.com
Glancing at the scoreboard won’t tell you the whole story in most games. Here are the games that went down to the wire relative to the spread in the fourth quarter last week in the tenth college football weekend and the first weekend of October. Each week there are several teams that cover despite not necessarily deserving it, as well as other teams that played much better than the final score shows, get the details in this weekly column.
Florida State (-3½) 42, Louisville 31: A season-changing upset appeared on the way as Louisville stormed out to a 21-0 lead against last year’s national champions in the second quarter. Momentum did start to shift with a fumble recovery touchdown for the Seminoles just before halftime. Louisville got a stop and then went right down the field on its opening possession in the second half, but wound up settling for a short field goal. Florida State would then answer with a 68-yard pass play to get within 10 points. The Seminoles were within three points just minutes later after Dalvin Cook broke a 40-yard run and early in the fourth quarter, Florida State not only had the lead but they had passed the short road favorite spread that had dropped all week. Louisville had some fight left putting together a 77-yard drive to take the lead back with nine minutes to go, but the Seminoles added two late touchdowns with great field position playing a role after a short punt and after Louisville had to go for it on fourth down trailing late in the game.
Duke (+3) 51, Pittsburgh 48: For a second straight season, Pittsburgh and Duke played a wild high-scoring game. Duke did lead by three entering the fourth quarter, but the game was quickly tied but only for seconds as DeVon Edwards returned the next kickoff 99 yards for a Blue Devils touchdown. Pittsburgh was able to tie the game with just over five minutes to go and the Panthers got the ball back with a chance to go for the win. A great drive brought Pittsburgh down to the eight-yard line with the game-winning kick seemingly a formality, but Panthers kicker Chris Blewitt missed from 26 yards. Both teams struck for touchdowns with relative ease in the first overtime and in round two, Blewitt redeemed himself with a make from 43 yards to put the Panthers up. The exhausted defense could not hold as four rushes later, Duke was in the end zone for the win.
Maryland (+3) 20, Penn State 19: Penn State led 16-7 heading into the fourth quarter as the Maryland offense sputtered for a second straight game. The Terrapins took advantage of field position to get back in the game, however, connecting on a short field goal and then getting the ball back right away as Penn State fumbled on the kickoff. Just a few minutes into the fourth quarter, it was Maryland holding a 17-16 lead. After trading punts, Penn State took the lead back with a long field goal, but after another swap of punts including a short kick from the Lions, Maryland was able to secure the game- winner.
Auburn (+1) 35, Mississippi 31: The final margin in this game matched the final margin entering the fourth quarter, but not without great drama in the final minutes of one of the biggest games of the week. Ole Miss took a three-point lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter, but Auburn quickly answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive. On its next drive, the Rebels appeared poised to get back on top, but quarterback Bo Wallace fumbled inside the Auburn 10-yard line. After forcing the Tigers to punt, Mississippi had another great opportunity, but a fumble by receiver Laquon Treadwell right near the goal line saved Auburn again after the initial touchdown ruling was overturned on review.
Missouri (-7½) 20, Kentucky 10: Missouri was in control against Kentucky with a 20-3 lead more than halfway through the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats managed to get within 10 with just over three minutes to go. A backdoor cover looked probable for the Wildcats as they recovered the on-side kick and then with the help of a personal foul penalty, they were in field goal range. In a highly questionable coaching move, Mark Stoops opted to go for it on fourth down from the Missouri 21-yard line rather than kicking a field goal, down two scores with less than two minutes to go in the game. Kentucky still had three timeouts and the Wildcats actually did get the ball back and moved into Missouri territory again in the final seconds, but the scenario was much different still down two scores without what would have been a spread-stealing field goal.
Tennessee (+6) 45, South Carolina 42: South Carolina trailed 21-14 at halftime, but with three consecutive touchdowns, it was the Gamecocks in control up 35-21 early in the fourth quarter. Tennessee found the end zone with just over six minutes to go, but it appeared for naught as South Carolina quickly struck back, breaking a 70-yard run for a touchdown to put the lead back to 14 points with less than five minutes on the clock. It took a 10-play drive, but Tennessee managed to score with less than two minutes to go to keep hope alive but the on-side kick attempt failed. The Volunteers still had all three timeouts and they were able to force a punt though they were left with 85 yards to go. Joshua Dobbs led the two-minute drill brilliantly to force overtime with just 11 seconds to go. Tennessee went first in overtime and managed only a field goal, but South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson was sacked on back-to-back plays as the Gamecocks had to try a desperation 58-yard field goal to tie and fell short.
Oregon (-7) 45, Stanford 16: This huge Pac-12 North game featured a rather misleading final as Stanford was on the doorstep to score a touchdown late in the third quarter to get within four points. They instead had to settle for a 25-yard field goal to get within eight, still giving the underdog the cover on a spread that most of the week was higher than eight, opening all the way at 11½. Oregon completed a touchdown drive with three seconds left in the third quarter to go up by 15 and then taking advantage of short fields after a turnover and a poor punt, the Ducks added two more touchdowns in the final frame as the Ducks had only modest yardage edges in the game.
Louisiana (-7) 19, South Alabama 9: South Alabama led this game 9-6 at halftime and it was a tie game at 9-9 heading into the fourth quarter after the Ragin’ Cajuns settled for a second straight short field goal. Another short kick in the fourth put Louisiana up by three, but South Alabama appeared poised to at least tie the game, sitting with first and goal from the Louisiana 4-yard line. A fumble halted that scoring opportunity and Louisiana put together a 91-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to put the home favorite past the spread.
Vanderbilt (-7) 42, Old Dominion 28: Entering the fourth quarter, this game sat right on the closing spread with Vanderbilt leading 28-21, but the line was above a touchdown most of the week. The Commodores connected on a 50-yard pass play early in the fourth quarter and then Old Dominion’s opportunity to answer ended with an incompletion going for it on fourth down inside Vanderbilt territory. Both teams added late touchdowns as the home favorite held on.
California (+3½) 45, Oregon State 31: The Bears led 27-10 in the third quarter, but late drama has been the norm in California games this season. Oregon State would score three straight touchdowns to take a 31-27 lead early in the fourth quarter to take the lead while actually climbing past the closing spread. The Bears answered and then got an interception to take over the game, eventually pulling away for a 14-point victory as the Beavers failed to score on two late fourth quarter drives into California territory.
UCLA (-6½) 17, Arizona 7: UCLA led 17-7 through three quarters in a key Pac-12 South clash that was stunningly low scoring. The first three drives for Arizona in the fourth quarter were all three-and-outs, but after a UCLA fumble, the Wildcats seemed to have some momentum for a late rally. Arizona would drive all the way down to the UCLA 5-yard line with a touchdown potentially spoiling the favorite cover in the final seconds, but Anu Solomon was sacked on third-and-goal and the Wildcats went for the field goal down two scores. The kick was blocked to preserve a 10-point win for the Bruins.
Colorado State (-6) 38, San Jose State 31: The now 8-1 Rams were in a tie game late in the third quarter before completing a 15-play drive to lead by seven, just past the road favorite spread. San Jose State quickly answered to tie the game again, but the Rams seemingly pulled away with a 38-24 lead with just five minutes to go. San Jose State would score a touchdown late to get back within seven but the Rams held on.
Arizona State (-6½) 19, Utah 16: The Sun Devils led 13-6 at halftime, but Utah took the lead in the third quarter, up 16-13. The first half of the fourth quarter featured both offenses being shut down but Arizona State managed to hit a couple big plays to get into the red zone. They could not find the end zone, settling for a short field goal to tie the game. Both teams got to midfield in the final minutes, but overtime was needed. Those on the Sun Devils needed Arizona State to somehow get seven going first in overtime, but it was the Utes opening the extra session and missing a short field goal. That allowed Arizona State to conservatively set up the game-winner.
UTEP (-8) 35, Southern Miss 14: The Miners are not often this big of a favorite, but the Miners were up by 14 late in the third quarter looking to add more points. Southern Miss would block the field goal attempt and score a touchdown after a 78-yard return, a score that put the Golden Eagles in position to cover. The favor was returned two-fold in the fourth quarter with UTEP scoring on an interception return and a fumble return to create a 21-point final margin.
New Mexico (+1½) 31, UNLV 28: The Lobos had a 17-0 lead in this game, but by the end of the third quarter, UNLV had scored 21 straight points to lead by four as a slight home favorite. Both teams scored early in the fourth quarter, but New Mexico posted seven more points with just over a minute to go to complete a 15 play drive. UNLV had a long field goal attempt at the end of the game to force overtime, but it missed.
Nevada (-2) 30, San Diego State 14: The Aztecs led 14-13 entering the fourth quarter in this game before Nevada put together another good fortune fourth quarter to pull out another late win. Nevada pulled away with 17 points in the fourth quarter as the San Diego State offense faltered to create a misleading final in game that had nearly identical yardage numbers but a big turnover edge for the host.