4th Quarter Covers - Week 7
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 seventh 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, get the details in this weekly column.
Central Florida (-2½) 31, BYU 24: The Cougars stormed out to a 24-10 lead early into the third quarter, but with two short drives, Central Florida tied the game, scoring late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter on matching 37-yard drives with a kick return and a punt return setting up the favorable field position. The Knights had plenty of chances to win in regulation, missing a field goal and then having an interception near the red zone. In the final seconds, a 50-yard field goal attempt was also blocked to force overtime. UCF went first in overtime and scored a touchdown in five plays, while BYU drove down to the UCF 6-yard line, but could not match the score to the extend the game.
Stanford (-16½) 34, Washington State 17: The Cardinal defense dominated the high-flying Washington State offense Friday night, but the Stanford offense continues to misfire in scoring opportunities. Stanford led just 24-17 into the fourth quarter and the Cardinal wound up with a late touchdown to steal the cover in the final two minutes, getting past the favorite line that was just shy of the 17-point final margin most of the week.
Oklahoma (-16½) 31, Texas 26: You know your season is not going well when you allow just 29 yards to your biggest rival in the first half, but are still losing the game. That was the scenario for Texas as they allowed early Oklahoma touchdowns on kickoff and interception returns. The Sooners pulled past the favorite spread in the fourth quarter leading 31-13, but Texas scored two touchdowns in the final nine minutes to pull with five for a deserved cover in game they out-gained Oklahoma, 482-232.
Michigan State (-21½) 45, Purdue 31: Most on the heavy road favorite Spartans got the game in at -20½, just below the three-touchdown margin which Michigan State took into the fourth quarter up 38-17. For the second straight week, Michigan State had a bizarre fourth quarter collapse as Purdue wound up within seven points with the ball and about three minutes to go on the clock. Austin Appleby made a terrible third down pass that wound up intercepted for a short touchdown to put the game away for the Spartans, but the Boilermakers took the cash.
Minnesota (-4) 24, Northwestern 17: As strange as it sounds, this game was for the Big Ten West lead. Minnesota took a 14-10 lead into halftime, right even with the common spread on the game. Entering the fourth quarter, the score remained the same. Early in the fourth, Minnesota had to settle for a short field goal from inside the Northwestern 10-yard line to go up by seven. Disaster nearly struck for Northwestern with a fumble on the kickoff return, they recovered but were forced to start from the Minnesota 3-yard line. The Wildcats went 97 yards for the tying score with the help of penalties, but the momentum swing did not last long as Jalen Myrick returned the next kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, putting Minnesota up for good. Northwestern threatened on a late drive, but did not get past the Minnesota 33-yard line as the Gophers held on despite the Wildcats having twice as many first downs in the game.
Florida State (-23½) 38, Syracuse 20: If not for Syracuse turnovers, this could have been a pretty tight game even with the Orange playing with two back-up quarterbacks. The yardage wound up pretty close, but Florida State pulled away taking a 31-13 lead into the fourth quarter and then adding an early touchdown to put the margin at 25 points and just past the favorite spread. Syracuse did not let the favorite cover sit for long, however, answering just three minutes later with a big pass play. Florida State had the ball in Syracuse territory late, but did not need to add to the score as the Seminoles fell to 1-5 ATS on the season.
Wisconsin (-26½) 38, Illinois 28: Illinois led this game 14-7 after the first quarter and at no point did the Badgers get past the heavy home favorite spread. Despite not playing a great game, Wisconsin looked like they might pull out the cover as after a 72-yard Corey Clement touchdown run, the Badgers led by 24 early in the fourth quarter. A big punt return sealed the underdog win for Illinois as they took over inside the Wisconsin 30-yard line and scored on the next play. Illinois added another touchdown with about three minutes to go and then recovered an on-side kick to make the final minutes fairly interesting, ending up with a 10-point defeat that really was not that close in the middle quarters.
Akron (-14½) 29, Miami, OH 19: Seeking to start a winning streak Miami played commendably at Akron, getting a touchdown right before halftime to get within two points. The Zips took advantage of two short-field drives to pull away leading 29-13 with five minutes to go in the game. Miami would not fold, however, as the Redhawks stole the cover back with a five-play drive going 91 yards to get within 10 with just three minutes on the clock. Favorite backers had a little hope as Akron recovered the on-side kick attempt and wound up near the Miami 30-yard line, but the Redhawks only had one timeout as the Zips got one first down to salt the game away.
West Virginia (-6) 37, Texas Tech 34: A season that has gone poorly for Texas Tech seemed on the verge of turning around, leading throughout in a big conference game. West Virginia was within seven heading into the fourth quarter, but a 69-yard run halfway through the final frame seemed to seal the win for the Red Raiders. Things got quite interesting from there as West Virginia tied the game with two touchdowns in a four-minute span with the defense stepping up. Forcing another punt, West Virginia got the ball back with less than a minute on the clock. Using timeouts well the Mountaineers gave themselves a shot, lining up for a long field goal attempt. Those on the road favorite had to hope for a miss and overtime to still have a chance with the huge momentum shift, but Josh Lambert impressively hit from 55-yards for an incredible comeback win for the Mountaineers.
Western Michigan (+1) 42, Ball State 38: This somewhat meaningless MAC game drew a lot of action with the line jumping around throughout the week. It was only fitting that the spread result would swing in the final minutes. Ball State led 38-28 entering the fourth quarter, but a 54-yard run put the Broncos within three with about seven minutes to go. Ball State had to punt back to Western Michigan and the Broncos completed the go-ahead drive, scoring with just over a minute to go. There was plenty of late drama left as the Cardinals quickly had the ball down to the Western Michigan 8-yard line at first-and-goal. All four attempts fell incomplete as Western Michigan held on.
LSU (-2½) 30, Florida 27: The Tigers led by three heading into the fourth quarter and that is where the final margin landed, but not without a see-saw end to the game. Florida scored the go-ahead touchdown with about six minutes to go after a great punt return from Andre Debose. LSU was more methodical, but the Tigers took the lead back with a touchdown after nine plays for 75 yards, leaving Florida with less than three minutes on the clock. The Gators connected for a rare big play with a 73-yard pass play to put Florida on the LSU two-yard line. The Gators could not punch the ball in and had to settle for a short field goal to tie the game. LSU was pinned back and had to punt putting Florida near mid-field with less than a minute to go. Disaster struck for a snake-bitten Florida team with a Jeff Driskel interception with 24 seconds left. LSU ran one play and kicked a game-winning field goal from 50 yards.
USC (+1) 28, Arizona 26: What would an Arizona game be without late drama? USC seemed to be in control against the lone remaining undefeated team from the Pac-12, leading 28-13 heading into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats scored to get within eight with about 10 minutes to go and then the defense delivered back-to-back key stops near mid-field. After the second USC punt, Arizona had just over three minutes to go 80 yards and the Wildcats got the job done, scoring with just over a minute to go, but the crucial two-point conversion attempt failed. The Wildcats were not done, however, as they incredibly recovered the expected on-side kick in the second straight week with an inexcusable late-game blunder for the Trojans against a desperation play. Arizona did not have much time, but they moved into field goal range only to have heartbreak with the 36-yard attempt missing. Most on Arizona still wound up cashing as the Wildcats were +2½ all week before a very late Saturday line move left the Wildcats as short chalk.
Clemson (-9) 23, Louisville 17: There were only 22 combined first downs in this defensive showdown in the ACC, but Clemson scored first half touchdowns on a punt return and a fumble recovery. The Tigers led just 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, but appeared that Clemson would sneak by the favorite spread, sitting with second-and-goal inches away from a touchdown after a Louisville penalty. Clemson could not punch it in, settling for a short field goal. It was then Louisville who failed in the red zone as they took a big play deep into Clemson territory in the final minute, only to wind up failing as well with a Clemson goal line stand. Clemson lost quarterback Deshaun Watson to an early injury in this game and while the ACC is rightfully catching some flack nationally, these defenses look legit with both teams combining to go 3-33 on third downs and 0-3 on key fourth down attempts.
Georgia Southern (-21½) 47, Idaho 24: Georgia Southern has been kind to ATS backers this season and the Eagles pulled out another late spread win last week. Idaho had trimmed a big early deficit to just nine points entering the fourth quarter, but Georgia Southern scored a defensive touchdown early in the final frame to lead by 16. With the game completely in hand and Idaho not calling its final two timeouts, Georgia Southern continued to run its offense, punching in a touchdown on third down with 12 seconds on the clock to put the Eagles conveniently just past the heavy favorite spread.
Michigan (-2½) 18, Penn State 13: It looked like another similar story was unfolding for Michigan as a second quarter turnover led to a Penn State touchdown to put the Lions up 13-7. With two field goals on short-field drives Michigan tied the game late in the third quarter. The Wolverines did not do much on offense in the final frame but the defense came up with big plays to secure field position as Michigan added a field goal and a safety and Penn State could not seriously threaten to score late.
Colorado State (-2) 31, Nevada 24: The Rams stormed out to a 31-3 lead late in the third quarter, but things got rather interesting late in this key Mountain West clash. Nevada put together three consecutive scoring drives, aided by a fumble in the middle of the run as the Wolf Pack got back into the game. Colorado State had to punt back to Nevada with about five minutes to go in the game and overtime looked likely with Nevada moving to the Colorado State 10-yard line with just a minute left in the game. A third down interception saved the day for the Rams who held on in a wild finish.
Hawaii (-5½) 38, Wyoming 28: Hawaii fell behind early at home in this game with Wyoming scoring on defense early in the game and leading 21-10 at the half as a slight underdog. Wyoming clung to just a four-point lead heading into the fourth, but an interception put Hawaii in business. The Warriors capitalized on strong field position to take a 31-28 lead and shortly thereafter Wyoming missed in a tying field goal attempt. The momentum carried over for Hawaii, punching in another touchdown to create the final 10-point margin.