4th Quarter Covers - Week 13
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 13th college football weekend as the season heads to the final two weeks of the regular season. 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.
Northern Illinois (PK) 21, Ohio 14: This Tuesday night game was tied halfway through the fourth quarter and Ohio out-rushed Northern Illinois in the game, not an easy feat. The Huskies answered a touchdown from the Bobcats with a 70-yard scoring drive, leaving Ohio with six minutes to go, down seven with the spread closing right at even after the Huskies were favored by four on the early opening number. Ohio seemed poised to answer going down the field with a big fourth down conversion and two other first downs, but on what looked like another first down conversion, Landon Smith fumbled, giving Northern Illinois the ball back with less than two minutes to go. Ohio had two timeouts left, but the Huskies converted a big third down play to run out the game.
Toledo (-7) 27, Bowling Green 20: Wednesday night MAC football featured a tight game with Bowling Green tying the score at 20-20 early in the fourth quarter. It took Toledo less than three minutes to answer, taking advantage of a strong kickoff return to push the lead back to seven with about ten minutes to go, sitting even with the closing spread. After matching punts, Bowling Green made good use of its next possession, getting inside the Toledo 30-yard line. Two sacks ended the threat as the Falcons went for it on fourth and long with over three minutes to go in the game. Bowling Green would force Toledo to punt again, but the Falcons wound up pinned on their own three-yard line and ultimately failed again on fourth and long for the their final chance.
San Diego State (-6) 30, Air Force 14: Air Force led 14-13 at the half and heading into the fourth quarter, the Falcons were still within range of the spread down nine after a late third quarter touchdown drive from the Aztecs. Air Force wound up with four turnovers in the game and twice early in the fourth quarter the Falcons were stopped going for it on fourth down. Down nine with fewer than three minutes on the clock, Air Force appeared to have a great shot to add points with even a field goal getting to even with the spread, but a Kale Pearson pass was intercepted and returned 56 yards for a touchdown to seal the game for the home favorite.
South Carolina (-25) 37, South Alabama 12: It was odd to see South Carolina as the team sitting at 5-5 going against 6-4 South Alabama with the Gamecocks needing a win to become bowl eligible. Early on it was a challenge, leading just 10-6 before an interception return for a touchdown put South Carolina up 17-6, but the Jaguars added a field goal to trail by just eight heading into the break. South Carolina managed just two field goals in the third quarter to lead by just 14, well short of the heavy favorite spread, but South Carolina would score two touchdowns in about a two minute span to take a 37-9 lead. A 31-yard South Alabama field goal in the final minutes would land the final score right on the closing number.
Ball State (-18) 45, Eastern Michigan 30: Ball State led 35-3 after a fumble return touchdown in the third quarter, seemingly in a complete control but with three consecutive scores, Eastern Michigan was within 19 and approaching the heavy underdog spread by the start of the fourth quarter. With two short drives, Ball State put the game away with a 45-16 lead with less than 11 minutes remaining, but Eastern Michigan kept playing, completing drives of 75 and 70 yards for two late touchdowns, the second of which spoiled the favorite cover.
Maryland (+6½) 23, Michigan 16: Michigan had a substantial yardage edge against Maryland in a game the Wolverines needed, but the scoring did not match up with the production with the familiar turnover storyline playing a role. Still Michigan led 16-9 and just past the favorite spread heading into the fourth quarter with the defense playing well, but Maryland tied the game early in the final frame. Michigan missed a field goal on its next drive and Maryland responded with another touchdown drive to take the lead with just six minutes to go and that would end up being the final score, leaving Michigan needing to beat Ohio State next week to become eligible for the postseason.
East Carolina (-20) 34, Tulane 6: East Carolina was in control of this game, but the Pirates led by just 14 at the half and they were short of the spread with a 20-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. A Tulane field goal with 10 minutes to go in the game put the margin at just 14, but a few minutes later a touchdown put East Carolina past the favorite spread for the first time in the game. With less than a minute to go and the game in hand, East Carolina rushed in another touchdown to pad the final margin.
Wisconsin (-8) 26, Iowa 24: The Badgers took a 19-3 lead with just over five minutes to go in the third quarter, but it did not feel like a dominant performance. The game would tighten in a hurry as Iowa scored a touchdown just minutes later to get within eight with a successful two-point conversion. Aided by a critical and quite erroneous pass interference penalty, Iowa scored again early in the fourth quarter, but the attempt to tie with another two-point conversion failed. That allowed Wisconsin to go past the closing spread when the Badgers quickly answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive halfway through the final frame. Iowa would make things interesting with another touchdown drive to get back within two points, good enough to cover, but Wisconsin was able to run out the clock.
Texas Tech (PK) 34, Iowa State 31: After falling behind 14-0, Iowa State scored 24 straight points to lead by 10 well into the third quarter. By the start of the fourth quarter, Texas Tech was back in front by three after an 82-yard pass play. Early in the fourth quarter, the Cyclones took a four-point lead with a quick touchdown drive of only two plays, but then it was nearly 10 minutes of game clock before the next scoring play as Texas Tech failed on a fourth down try and Iowa State missed a field goal. The Red Raiders hit on another big pass play to go back in front with just over four minutes to go. Iowa State would get to the edge of long field goal range on its final possession, but they couldn’t extend the drive as Texas Tech turned in a positive late season performance in an exciting game.
Oregon (-33) 44, Colorado 10: Spreads in Oregon games keep climbing, but the Ducks snuck by another one. Oregon led 30-3 heading into the fourth before adding a touchdown to slip just past the number with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter. Colorado would answer to get back within 27, but Oregon completed the scoring trade to lead 44-10 heading into the fourth. Colorado seems like a good candidate for a backdoor cover, but in three possessions each in the final frame neither team crossed midfield.
Louisville (+2½) 31, Notre Dame 28: The Irish led by three late in the third quarter, but Louisville completed an 81-yard drive late in the third to lead 24-20. With another long scoring drive, the Cardinals started to pull away with a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame quickly answered to get back within three and then the Irish got the big play they needed with a sack pushing Louisville back 14 yards on a key third down play. That made the field goal attempt much tougher and Louisville missed the try. The Irish were down inside the Louisville 10-yard line with under two minutes to play before getting backed up with a sack of their own. Still, the Irish seemed headed for overtime with a 32-yard field goal attempt but that kick also failed as the Cardinals escaped with a big win in South Bend.
North Texas (-2) 17, Florida International 14: North Texas led 14-0 early in this matchup but as they have done all season, Florida International put together points without its offense, scoring on a punt return and an interception return to tie the game just before halftime. With just seconds left in the third quarter, North Texas took a three-point lead with a short field goal. The Panthers had the best scoring chance in the fourth quarter, but it was Florida International giving away the big turnover with an interception in the end zone to end the threat as North Texas wound up with the win and narrow cover.
Arizona State (-14) 52, Washington State 31: This line dropped dramatically before kickoff and early on the underdog certainly looked like the side to be on with a back-and-forth start leaving Washington State up 24-21 at the half. Arizona State took a 28-24 run heading into the fourth and then the Sun Devils scored 24 points consecutively in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 52-24 lead before Washington State added a touchdown in the final minute which was not enough to impact the spread.
UL-Monroe (-6½) 30, New Mexico State 17: New Mexico State trailed by just three with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter before disaster struck the Aggies with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown to put UL-Monroe up by 10. New Mexico State was a home underdog with more than triple the rushing yards of its opponent, but they came up short as Monroe would add a fourth quarter field goal to pull away with a 13-point edge and the Aggies could not get the late spread-stealing touchdown.