4th Quarter Covers - Week 2
By Joe Nelson
VegasInsider.com
Glancing at the scoreboard won’t tell you the whole story in most games. Here are some of the games that went down to the wire relative to the spread in the fourth quarter last week in the second weekend of college football. 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.
Miami, FL (-17½) 44, Florida Atlantic 20: The heavy underdog looked promising most of the way and with a field goal with less than 25 minutes remaining in the game making a 20-20 tie, a major upset looked possible. The Hurricanes put together a few quick scoring drives and the field position for Miami remained strong in the game with five turnovers for the Owls, who also had injuries to their starting quarterback and running back. By the end of the third quarter, Miami led 37-20 and in the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes added another touchdown to get past the spread, getting ‘over’ the total as well.
Penn State (-16½) 27, Buffalo 14: The line on this game fell throughout the week and with Penn State up just 13-7 through three quarters, the underdog Bulls were in a great position to cover. The Penn State offense had an underwhelming performance, but the Lions put together their best drives of the day with two touchdowns in a three-minute span early in the fourth quarter to open up a 20-point lead. Buffalo eventually answered with an 82-yard touchdown drive, scoring with less than five minutes in the game to seal the underdog cover. Penn State had great field position after recovering the onside kick attempt, but they failed to add points.
Connecticut (-6½) 22, Army 17: After falling behind early in the game, Connecticut pulled away from Army in the middle of the game with 19 straight points, leading 22-10 with just over five minutes to go. Army does not pass often, but they hit a 71-yard pass play less than a minute later to put the Knights within the spread.
LSU (-3) 21, Mississippi State 19: LSU scored in the third quarter to take a 21-6 lead, but Mississippi State rallied in the fourth as a touchdown with four minutes to go put the Bulldogs down two and lining up for a two-point conversion to tie the game. That attempt failed but it was enough earn the underdog cover and the Bulldogs got the ball back and had a game-winning 52-year field goal attempt misfire as well as LSU escaped another wild finish.
Kansas State (-14) 30, Texas San Antonio 3: Despite a spread that opened as high as -20, Kansas State led just 7-3 at the half. The Wildcats bogged down in the red zone in the third quarter settling for two short field goals to take a 10-point lead into the final frame. In the fourth, the Wildcats put up 17 more points to pull past the spread as the defense delivered a dominant performance.
Syracuse (-4½) 30, Wake Forest 17: Wake Forest led 17-13 at the half and trailed just 20-17 into the fourth quarter despite allowing an interception return touchdown. In the fourth, the Orange pushed the lead to 13 points and a late Wake Forest drive into Syracuse territory ended in an interception.
Michigan (-13) 35, Oregon State 7: This spread was over two touchdowns most of the week before a sharp drop Saturday morning and heading into the fourth quarter the margin was just 13 points despite a dominant defensive showing from the Wolverines. Michigan added two touchdowns in the final frame to make the score more in line with the production for the day.
Georgia (-18) 31, Vanderbilt 14: While the spread on this game was close to 21 at times during the week, the 24-6 lead for the Bulldogs was right near the opening and closing numbers. Vanderbilt scored a touchdown with a successful two-point conversion with just over four minutes to go and a late pick-six for the Bulldogs was not enough to get back over the number in a game that was very even statistically.
BYU (+2) 35, Boise State 24: The Broncos have been dominant through three quarters in both games this season only to turn in disastrous fourth quarters. Boise State held on to win in the opener, but was not so fortunate this week as BYU erased a 10-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, taking the lead and the cover with a long touchdown pass with less than a minute to go. Down four, Boise State had an opportunity, but an interception was returned for a touchdown to put the game away for the Cougars. BYU scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter despite drives totaling just 76 yards.
Notre Dame (-14) 34, Virginia 27: Notre Dame led 26-14 heading into the fourth quarter which would have been enough against a spread that hovered between 10 and 11½ most of the week before a late climb. Virginia put together two long fourth quarter touchdown drives to stunningly take the lead in the final two minutes, but the Irish were able answer with a touchdown with 12 seconds to go from back-up quarterback DeShone Kizer.
Iowa (-3½) 31, Iowa State 17: This rivalry game lived up to its billing tied 17-17 entering the fourth quarter. That score held until just over two minutes remained in the game as Iowa cashed in to take a seven-point lead, getting past the favorite spread for the first time in the game. An interception just a few played later sealed the fate for the Cyclones as Iowa put up another seven points to create a misleading final score.
Alabama (-34½) 37, Middle Tennessee State 10: Alabama pulled away late in the second quarter and by the start of the fourth quarter, the Tide led by 34, right even with where the spread was much of the week. Alabama really did not shift to a conservative approach in the fourth as Cooper Batemen was still passing frequently, but an interception inside the Middle Tennessee State 10-yard line was returned 77 yards and the Blue Raiders cashed in for their lone touchdown with about six minutes to go to seal the underdog cover.
Air Force (-4) 37, San Jose State 16: Air Force only led by one point entering the fourth quarter, but the Falcons surged past the small favorite spread in the final frame, putting up three rushing touchdowns. The Spartans were hurt by two late interceptions and Air Force wound up with a big yardage edge.
Pittsburgh (-12½) 24, Akron 7: After a marginal opening week performance on defense, the Panthers had one of the best defensive showings of the weekend allowing just 110 yards against Akron. It was just a 10-7 lead at the half and Pittsburgh was still short of the spread until getting a touchdown with less than three minutes to go in the game, although Akron punted on all of its second half possessions.
Bowling Green (+7) 48, Maryland 27: Bowling Green trailed Maryland by seven well into the third quarter, but the Falcons tied the game and never looked back, scoring four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take over the game. Maryland had interceptions on each of its final three drives to put the Falcons into several favorable situations, but with nearly 700 yards, the Falcons clearly had a strong performance.
SMU (-6) 31, North Texas 13: The spread climbed on SMU throughout the week despite the Mustangs winning just once last season. North Texas led 13-10 entering the fourth quarter, but SMU would answer with a touchdown early in the fourth to lead by four. The Mustangs would add two more late touchdowns taking advantage of a key fumble to equal last season’s win count already and deliver the home favorite cover.
Washington State (+4½) 37, Rutgers 34: Washington State led by eight heading into what became a wild fourth quarter. Rutgers tied the game just seconds into the final frame and then took the lead on a kickoff return touchdown following a Washington State field goal. The four-point edge was past the common spread on this game, but the Cougars would answer. With less than two minutes to go, Rutgers returned a punt for a touchdown to take the lead by four points again, but Washington State managed to 90 yards, completing the drive with a game-winning score with just 13 seconds on the clock.
Oklahoma (-2½) 31, Tennessee 24: The Volunteers opened up a 17-0 lead early in this game, but they would not score again in regulation. Oklahoma trailed by 14 heading into the fourth quarter, but managed to force overtime in the final minute. Both teams scored seven in session one and the Sooners delivered going first in the second overtime and then got the stop it needed for the win and cover.
Texas (-14½) 42, Rice 28: The statistics were puzzling in this game as Rice had the ball for over 44 minutes and had nearly 200 more yards than Texas. The Owls trailed 21-0 just minutes into the game and trailed 42-14 heading into the fourth quarter with turnovers playing a big role. Rice cut that margin to just 21 points with less than seven minutes to go and another touchdown with less than a minute to go gave Rice the late cover.
Michigan State (-4½) 31, Oregon 28: Michigan State led by 10 entering the fourth quarter in Saturday night’s big game and the after trading scores early in the fourth the Spartans still led by 10 late in the game. Oregon fought back and completed an 80-yard drive with just over three minutes to go to get within the underdog spread and the Ducks had the ball back in Michigan State territory late before the Spartans made the stops to hold on.
Indiana (-9) 36, Florida International 22: The Hoosiers trailed by three early in the fourth quarter with Florida International looking for a second straight significant upset. Indiana tied the game and then went up by seven on a short field goal after a costly fumble for the Panthers. A seven-point lead was not going to be enough for a cover and the Panthers were on the doorstep looking to tie the game when Jameel Cook returned an interception 96 yards to put Indiana up 14 for the final margin.
USC (-44½) 59, Idaho 9: Idaho scored in the third quarter to trim the deficit to just 29 points making the heavy underdog cover likely for the Vandals. USC kept throwing and led by 43 heading into the fourth quarter. Idaho never threatened to add points in the final frame and another USC touchdown gave the Trojans another ATS win as well.
Stanford (-20½) 31, Central Florida 7: Stanford was in control, but the Cardinal only led by 17 entering the fourth quarter. Stanford scored twice in the fourth to move up by 31 points, enough of a margin to survive a late Central Florida touchdown that spoiled the shutout.