4th Quarter Covers - Week 3
By Joe nelson
Nellysports.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 third big college football weekend. 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.
Boise State (-17) 28, New Mexico 14: Offense was limited Thursday night as Boise State hosted New Mexico with reserve quarterbacks in action. Boise State led 14-7 early in the second quarter but the game then featured nearly 24 scoreless minutes before the Broncos took advantage of a strong punt return for a short-field scoring drive. The Broncos eclipsed the home favorite spread for the first time with about three minutes to go in the game but behind third-string quarterback Coltin Gerhart New Mexico delivered a late score to steal the cover, finding the end zone with just over a minute to go to extend a failed cover streak at home for the Broncos to now 11 straight games.
Temple (-14½) 29, Massachusetts 21: Massachusetts climbed back into the game with a 20-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to trail by just five points. Temple settled for a field goal heading into the fourth quarter with a 22-14 edge and then watched the Minutemen come away empty with a missed field goal early in the final frame. Massachusetts reached the Temple 28-yard-line on its next drive but still couldn’t add points and Temple appeared to secure a narrow favorite cover with a touchdown just after the four-minute mark, leading by 15. In just over two minutes Massachusetts rallied for a late scoring drive to trail by just eight with still over a minute remaining and then forced a Temple 3-and-out, reaching mid-field before the only turnover of the game on a lateral attempt.
Notre Dame (-14) 49, Boston College 20: Nearly 40 minutes into this rivalry game Notre Dame led by just a single point but three consecutive scores put the Irish up by 22 early in the fourth quarter. Boston College would answer to climb back within 15 but with two short field scores following turnovers in the final seven minutes Notre Dame posting a convincing 49-20 final score that wasn’t entirely deserved in what was a fairly competitive game and a contest where Notre Dame completed just 11 of 27 passed for 96 yards.
Memphis (+3½) 48, UCLA 45: This early national contest lived up to the bulling with a tight high scoring game. Memphis weathered the early storm and pulled ahead by halftime, leading by 10 late in the third quarter with a defensive touchdown. UCLA scored the next two touchdowns to lead by four, just past the road favorite spread into the fourth quarter. Memphis didn’t trail for long with a four-play drive going 81 yards to take the lead back before the pair of high profile quarterbacks traded interceptions. UCLA was stopped on downs just past midfield in the final minute as the Tigers hung on for a huge home win.
Duke (-10) 34, Baylor 20: Duke led just 24-20 through three quarters after Baylor closed the third quarter with a 79-yard touchdown pass but missed the extra-point. That point proved costly for some with a line that reached as high as +14 at times as Duke returned a fourth quarter interception for a touchdown to lead by 11 and then added a field goal after an 18-yard drive with about five minutes to go for a 14-point final margin, with the Blue Devils ending the game taking a knee at the Baylor 24-yard line.
Texas A&M (-24) 45, UL-Lafayette 21: The Ragin’ Cajuns scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to lead by seven at the half, setting potential for panic in College Station for a team that already had endured a disappointing start to the season. The Aggies would get in front by 10 by the end of the third quarter but covering the spread didn’t appear likely until an early fourth quarter interception return touchdown. The Aggies added another score by breaking a 67-yard run and wound up with a 24-point win for a narrow cover for most on the heavy favorite.
Florida (-6½) 26, Tennessee 20: The Gators were favored by 4½-to-5 points most of the week but wound up closing just short of a touchdown. A wild finish made those prices quite critical in this SEC opener. The Gators led just 6-3 through three quarters but with an interception return touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter the Gators led by 10. After trading scores Tennessee found the end zone on just a two-play drive with fewer than five minutes remaining to trail 17-20. Felipe Franks was intercepted in Florida territory two plays later as Tennessee managed to tie the game with a field goal with only 50 seconds remaining. Franks managed to redeem his big mistake on the final offensive play, scrambling and heaving to the end zone for 63-yard touchdown as time expired. There was no need to kick an extra-point that late Florida backers needed for the win.
TCU (-22) 56, SMU 36: TCU looked in jeopardy of an upset early as SMU jumped in front 19-7 in this matchup of nearby schools. Scoring as the half expired TCU led by six and that remained the margin after trading scores in the third quarter. The Frogs added a touchdown to lead by 13 early in the fourth quarter and then scored two more touchdowns in a minute’s span with the second score coming on an interception return to sit past the number with a 56-29 edge. TCU didn’t cover for long however as SMU hit a 61-yard pass touchdown a few plays later and the margin finished at 20 right in the middle of a -18½ opening price and the closing figure of -22.
Marshall (-14) 21, Kent State 0: This game was still 0-0 until the final seconds of the first half as Marshall found the end zone with just six seconds remaining. After a scoreless third quarter Marshall went up by 14 to match the common spread with about seven minutes remaining in the game. Kent reached the Marshall 36-yard line but had to go for it on 4th-and-long and Marshall was able to put the game away while slipping past the favorite spread by breaking a long run with just over a minute to go.
Oklahoma (-34) 56, Tulane 14: The Wave scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to look like a great underdog cover bet with this hefty line but by halftime Oklahoma led 28-14 with the help of a 77-yard interception return touchdown. The Wave were still holding on through three quarters trailing by 21 but Oklahoma added three fourth quarter scores for a convincing final result that was enough to cover on the nearly five-touchdown spread.
Louisiana Tech (+4) 23, Western Kentucky 22: The Hilltoppers had a 22-13 edge through three quarters with this game on a much lower scoring trajectory than a pair of meetings between these Conference USA foes last season. Louisiana Tech completed a 91-yard scoring drive with about six minutes remaining in the game to get in position to cover, down by two. The Bulldogs forced a 3-and-out on defense but wound up throwing an interception and the defense had to step up again. Getting the ball back with fewer than two minutes remaining the Bulldogs marched down the field, aided by a face mask penalty and nailed a 21-yard field goal with two seconds remaining for the outright win.
Alabama (-31) 41, Colorado State 23: Alabama only led 17-10 late in the second quarter but the Tide would take over, leading by 28 through three quarters and by 31 early in the fourth quarter to sit right near the opening and closing numbers. That timing didn’t end up mattering as Nick Stevens led two late Colorado State scoring drives to make the final statistics and score much more respectable.
Cincinnati (+3½) 21, Miami, OH 17: Looking to snap a long losing streak in this rivalry Miami was in command with a 14-3 edge through three quarters. Cincinnati climbed within eight before Miami also settled for a short field goal with fewer than five minutes remaining on the clock. That left Cincinnati with a 0.4% chance of winning the game according to ESPN’s probability model. Cincinnati rallied for a touchdown strike just past the three-minute mark, and converted the two-point try to trail by just three, in what looked like a critical play for the spread result. Cincinnati opted to kick deep and Miami bobbled the return and had to take the ball out of the end zone, burying themselves at their own 5-yard line. It appeared that Miami head coach Chuck Martin called timeout facing 3rd-and-2 but the Redhawks were assessed a delay-of-game penalty. On 3rd-and-7 with just over a minute to go Gus Ragland was intercepted with Cincinnati taking the pick to the end zone to take the lead 21-17. Miami drove 55 yard to Cincinnati 20-yard line looking to get back on top and a flag came out on a 3rd-and-five on a throw to the end zone. Clear pass interference was incredibly waved off and Miami failed on 4th down to end the game.
Troy (-9½) 27, New Mexico State 24: Troy climbed to a 20-3 advantage early in the third quarter but the Aggies showed some late fight, getting back-to-back scores to trail by four. In the final seconds of the third quarter Troy quarterback Brandon Silvers broke a long run to put Troy up by 11, just past a road favorite spread that climbed significantly throughout the week. New Mexico State scored with about 10 minutes to go in the game, successfully getting the two-point conversion to trail by only three. After trading punts Troy delivered an 11 play drive to burn off over six minutes of game clock before taking a knee.
Texas Tech (-6½) 52, Arizona State 45: The Red Raiders led 35-17 at the half and that was with losing a fumble on the one-yard line to cost the team a bigger advantage. The defense started to run out of gas and this game turned into a shootout similar to last season. Through three quarters Texas Tech still led by seven, even with the common spread though -6½ was the opening and closing number on the game. Arizona State tied the game with about 10 minutes to go for a fourth straight touchdown drive for the Sun Devils. Both teams were forced to punt on their next possessions and Texas Tech got back in front with a 12-play 90-yard drive to lead by seven again with just under two minutes to go. Arizona State was stopped in its own territory but they had no timeouts as Texas Tech had no need to add points.
Utah (-28½) 54, San Jose State 16: The Utes kicked field goals early but eventually pulled away in the third quarter to take a 30-13 edge into halftime. Through three quarters Utah led by 24 and early in the fourth quarter the Spartans trimmed the deficit to 21 points. Utah added 17 points in the fourth quarter for a 54-16 final and a home favorite cover, scoring after a pair of San Jose State fumbles.
Washington (-35) 48, Fresno State 16: The highly regarded Huskies were much more dominant than the final numbers as they led 34-0 just 18 minutes into the game. The Huskies led 48-7 just over a minute into the second half before pulling off. Fresno State would score three field goals the rest of the way taking advantage of a pair of Washington fumbles as the Bulldogs moved to 3-0 ATS, slipping just within the closing spread.