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 some of the games that went down to the wire relative to the spread in the fourth quarter last week in the seventh big college football weekend in mid-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.
UL-Lafayette (-14) 24, Texas State 7: The Ragin’ Cajuns were even with the closing spread just a few minutes into game with a 14-0 advantage but there were no points for over 30 minutes of game clock before Texas State completed an 89-yard drive to stay in the game, scoring with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Hopes of a comeback for the Bobcats ended as they fumbled on their next possession leading to a field goal for UL-Lafayette, though the margin was just 10 points heading into the fourth quarter. With 10 minutes remaining UL-Lafayette put the game away, getting the past the spread with a touchdown pass and Texas State opted to punt from just inside Ragin’ Cajuns territory with about six minutes remaining on its best late opportunity.
Ohio (-10) 48, Bowling Green 30: The Bobcats trailed late in the third quarter before Nathan Rourke broke a 75-yard touchdown run to put Ohio in the lead heading into the fourth quarter though still sitting short of the favorite spread. The Bobcats added three fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away with a 48-30 final with the help of two of the four Bowling Green turnovers in the final quarter.
Army (-4) 28, Eastern Michigan 27: Army led by seven through three quarters, failing to complete a pass but dominating on the ground. Eastern Michigan tied the game early in the fourth but Army answered with a 16-play touchdown drive to go back up by seven with five minutes to go. The Eagles converted a big fourth down in their own territory on the final drive and eventually snuck into the end zone in the final minute. Down one the Eagles went for the win and failed but the late score was enough for the slight underdog to cover the spread.
Virginia (-3½) 20, North Carolina 14: The Tar Heels led 14-10 late in the third quarter but Virginia took the lead on an 81-yard pass play. A three-point edge was just short of the closing number but off a Tar Heels turnover the Cavaliers added a short field goal early in the fourth quarter to lead by six. The Tar Heels stayed in the game by forcing a fumble with about three minutes to go to prevent another Cavaliers score but North Carolina didn’t seriously threaten needing a touchdown late, eventually sacked on 4th down just past midfield to effectively end the game.
West Virginia (-5½) 46, Texas Tech 35: The Red Raiders led 35-17 late in the third quarter before a stunning comeback from the hosting Mountaineers. Texas Tech still led by 11 into the fourth quarter and after a missed field goal the Red Raiders were bailed out with an interception from West Virginia. The Mountaineers climbed within three on a 32-yard touchdown run and then forced a 3-and-out on defense. A few plays later West Virginia had a 39-35 lead, though that margin was short of the most of the home favorite spreads on a line that bounced around during the week from -3½ to -6. It wound up not mattering as Texas Tech went backwards and had to punt again and the Mountaineers piled on another touchdown with about three minutes remaining for a deceptive 46-35 victory.
NC State (-13) 35, Pittsburgh 17: NC State and Pittsburgh were tied at halftime and it took until two minutes to go in the third quarter for the Wolfpack to take the lead. Early in the fourth quarter NC State slipped past the favorite spread with a touchdown run. Pittsburgh momentarily got back within the spread hitting a field goal with eight minutes to go but NC State broke a 40 yard run with two minutes remaining while essentially trying to run out the clock, winning by 18.
Michigan (-6½) 27, Indiana 20: The Wolverines led by 10 at halftime but Indiana closed to within three early in the third quarter before an exchange of eight consecutive punts, including seven 3-and-outs. Early in the fourth quarter Karan Higdon broke a 59-yard touchdown run to put Michigan back up by 10 and it looked like that might hold with both offenses struggling. Michigan allowed a 53-yard punt return however to put Indiana in the red zone and with about three minutes remaining the Hoosiers were back within three. Indiana managed to hold on defense and in the final seconds got in range for a game tying field goal. Any momentum the Hoosiers had was quickly erased as Higdon put Michigan up by seven on the first play of overtime and despite reaching 1st-and-goal from the Michigan 1-yard-line Indiana was stopped as the Wolverines escaped Bloomington with a win and a narrow cover for most on a line that did hit -7 and even briefly -7½ before falling back down and early in the week was as low as -5.
Marshall (-13) 35. Old Dominion 3: Marshall was just short of the favorite spread heading into the fourth quarter but with the help of a defensive score the Thundering Herd scored three touchdowns in the first five minutes of the final frame to pull away for a more decisive final result.
Florida State (-7) 17, Duke 10: This ACC game was a 10-10 tie through three quarters but led by Cam Akers the Seminoles completed a 91-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter to lead by seven, matching the road favorite spread. A pair of punts on each side followed but Duke was a threat to tie late reaching a new set of downs in the final 30 seconds from the Florida State 32-yard-line. The game ended with three straight incomplete passes as most wound up with a push though some early backers of the Seminoles might have found -6½.
Wyoming (-1) 28, Utah State: An underdog most of the week Wyoming closed as a slight favorite on a game that wound up tied through three quarters. The Aggies led 23-16 early in the fourth but Wyoming added a field goal and then took a 26-23 lead with a 28-yard passing touchdown just after the four-minute mark. Utah State had a fumble and then took a safety on its final two possessions as the Cowboys escaped with the narrow Mountain West win.
Oklahoma (-8½) 29, Texas 24: Oklahoma dominated the first half in the Red River Rivalry with a 20-0 edge and a massive yardage edge but after the Sooners settled for a short field goal Texas got a long kickoff return. With two personal foul penalties on Oklahoma the Longhorns were handed 30 more yards and reached the end zone about three minutes before halftime. In the final minute before halftime Oklahoma was on the doorstep to score again but Baker Mayfield threw his first interception of the season. Texas managed to get a field goal as time expired to only trail by 10 at the break. Late in the third quarter Texas climbed within the spread trailing 23-17 and actually took the lead briefly with a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. Oklahoma quickly answered to lead by five, failing going for two on a play that could have reached an early week spread that hovered around -7. Texas was stopped on downs but Oklahoma couldn’t run out the clock as the Longhorns made a late threat near midfield before a failed final lateral play.
Mississippi State (-22½) 35, BYU 10: Mississippi State completely dominated the yardage in this revenge spot but three turnovers helped to keep BYU in the game as the Bulldogs led by 18 at the half and still 18 through three quarters, just short of a home favorite spread that reached up to -24. BYU threw a fourth quarter interception in Mississippi State territory and the Bulldogs turned that turnover into seven more points midway through the final frame, enough to just barely slip by the favorite spread.
Memphis (-3½) 30, Navy 27: Memphis led 20-19 through three quarters and the Tigers delivered a 99-yard touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter and then off one of Navy’s five turnovers Memphis added a field goal to lead by 11 with 11 minutes to go. Memphis was poised to score again but a fumble in Navy territory gave the Midshipmen new life and Navy delivered a long touchdown drive, hitting the end zone with just over three minutes to go. The two-point conversion loomed large for the pointspread result and Navy succeeded for a three-point final margin, at least netting a push for Navy backers on a spread that opened at +5½ before dipping to +3 and climbing back up to +3½.
LSU (+6) 27, Auburn 23: Auburn led 23-7 late in the second quarter but LSU found the end zone just before halftime to only trail by nine. Six straight punts opened the second half and LSU returned that sixth punt for a touchdown to trail by just two early in the fourth quarter. LSU took the outright lead with a field goal with just over two minutes to go and added another three points for good measure for the upset in comeback fashion.
Alabama (-37) 41, Arkansas 9: Alabama eventually pulled away from Arkansas, though the favorite cover looked unlikely with just a 28-point edge into the fourth quarter. Handed good field position in the final frame the Tide added 10 points on a pair of short drives to slip past the inflated number but Arkansas spoiled the result with a late touchdown to lose by only 32, incredibly close enough to cover in a division game though the Tide were favored by as low -30½ before a significant Saturday line move that left the middle available on this outcome.
New Mexico State (-5) 35, Georgia Southern 27: Favored by as many as eight most of the week New Mexico State trailed most of this Sun Belt game, down three at halftime and down by six through three quarters. The Aggies took a 28-27 lead early in the fourth quarter and with two minutes left New Mexico State scored on a 3rd down play in a spread outcome deciding play, winning by eight instead of the four point margin a field goal would have given the team had Georgia Southern held defensively on that play.
Southern Miss (-23) 24, UTEP 0: Scoring 24 points didn’t seem likely to be enough to cover in this Conference USA clash and getting that many looked unlikely early as it would have been just 7-0 at halftime if not for a UTEP fumble in the final minute of the second quarter at its own two-yard-line. The Golden Eagles didn’t score again until the fourth quarter and a field goal with just three minutes remaining proved to be the difference in getting just past the favorite spread.
North Texas (+1½) 29, Texas-San Antonio 26: The Roadrunners led 20-16 through three quarters but North Texas took the lead early in the fourth quarter as a very slight underdog. Texas San Antonio connected for a 46-yard pass play to lead by four with just over three minutes to play. North Texas failed going for it on fourth down just ahead of midfield but they held on defense to get the ball back. Pinned back at their own 2-yard-line the Mean Green went 98 yards in just over a minute for the win.
Texas A&M (+3½) 19, Florida 17: Florida led 17-10 early in the fourth quarter but Texas A&M delivered steady production while featuring great defense to net three field goals in the fourth quarter, slipping ahead 19-17 and sealing the game with a late interception.
Michigan State (-4) 30, Minnesota 27: Michigan State was in command in Minneapolis but the Spartans settled for a pair of short field goals in the third quarter to keep the game in range for the Gophers with a 17 point margin. Minnesota took advantage of a turnover early in the fourth quarter to climb within 10 but Michigan State answered two minutes later. The Gophers delivered another touchdown drive to get back within 10 and then Michigan State missed a field goal working on a short field after a failed onside kick. With about a minute to go the Gophers found the end zone again to climb within the spread for a three-point final margin but they missed on another onside kick try.