4th Quarter Covers - Week 8
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 eighth 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.
Utah (-1½) 29, Oregon State 23: This game featured just five field goals through three quarters with Utah leading 9-6 as a slight road favorite in the late game Thursday night. Oregon State finally broke through for the first touchdown in the game connecting on a 72-yard pass play to give the Beavers their first lead of the night. After holding the Utes to a 3-and-out the Beavers appeared poised to take control of the game moving into Utah territory in an 11-play drive but ultimately the Beavers were forced to punt just outside of field goal range. Pinned deep, a big pass interference penalty helped Utah into better field position and a 53-yard run by Devontae Booker set up the Utes for the go-ahead score with just four minutes to go. The Beavers did enough to force overtime as Trevor Romaine hit a tying field goal as time expired even after a huge 3rd-down sack nearly cost Oregon State that chance. The Utes went first and scored with relative ease and Oregon State answered on a 4th-and-goal pass play. In the second session a reasonable Oregon State field goal was missed and the Utah running game that dominated the night punched in the winning score. The final touchdown also pushed the game ‘over’ on the early week numbers even though the game played out as a very low scoring affair.
Marshall (-21) 45, Florida International 13: With a 32-point final margin this game appeared to be another Marshall blowout win but this was a seven-point game at halftime and Marshall led just 24-7 entering the fourth quarter. The Herd got past the spread early in the fourth and then scored on an interception return touchdown to put the game out of reach. Marshall was much less dominant in the box score than on the scoreboard as Florida International competed well but was on the wrong end of the turnover margin, something they have had great success with most of this season.
Northern Illinois (-13½) 51, Miami, OH 41: The Huskies entered this game off a rare MAC loss and early on the rout appeared to be on as Northern Illinois took a 37-14 lead late in the first half. Miami managed to score in the final minute of the half to take some momentum into the break and the Redhawks did the only scoring in the third quarter to get within nine points. There was little defense in the fourth quarter as both squads alternated touchdowns on relatively quick drives with NIU leading 51-34 and past the spread late in the game but Miami completed its final drive for the spread-winning touchdown with just over two minutes to go.
Duke (-3) 20, Virginia 13: Virginia out-gained Duke by 131 yards but despite nearly 500 yards of offense the Cavaliers managed just 13 points in Durham. After falling behind 10-0 early, Virginia tied the game by halftime and it was 13-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Virginia was just to the edge of field goal range on its first drive of the final quarter before stalling and it was Duke that broke through with a few big plays to complete a scoring drive with less than eight minutes to go. Virginia looked poised to answer, again moving into Duke’s territory on its next possession before failing on 4th down with two penalties being costly on the drive.
North Carolina (-2) 48, Georgia Tech 43: If you like offense this ACC tilt provided one of the more entertaining games of the day. Georgia Tech took the lead early in the second half but the Tar Heels appeared poised to run away with back-to-back touchdowns to lead by nine entering the fourth quarter. There were five touchdowns in the final frame as Georgia Tech scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 43-42 lead with three minutes to go, missing two-point conversions on both scores, costing those on the Yellow Jackets early in the week at a price as high as -2½ for the road team. By game time the Tar Heels closed as a 2-point favorite and North Carolina delivered a great final drive, converting a touchdown run with 11 seconds on the clock to win the game. Two Georgia Tech penalties in the final three plays certainly helped the cause for North Carolina in a game that could have gone either way.
San Jose State (-3) 27, Wyoming 20: This was a 10-10 game entering the fourth quarter after a 63-yard fumble return touchdown for Wyoming. San Jose State dominated the yardage in the game and went up early in the fourth but Wyoming answered with back-to-back scoring drives, settling for a short field goal to up 20-17 with just four minutes to go. In the final minute San Jose State was able to force overtime with a 50-yard kick. A defensive holding penalty helped the cause as the Spartans scored a touchdown to start overtime, a score that pushed the total ‘over’ as well and Wyoming was not able to convert a first down in its possession as San Jose State escaped with the road favorite cover.
South Florida (-2) 38, Tulsa 30: A trying season for Tulsa took another step backward Saturday as a 27-7 halftime lead quickly evaporated. By the start of the fourth quarter South Florida closed to within nine points and the writing was on the wall with a big momentum shift early in the final frame as South Florida blocked a field goal attempt. The Bulls then pulled away with a pair of quick touchdowns, taking the lead for the first time in the game with six minutes to go on an 85-yard pass play. South Florida added a field goal and then down eight Tulsa had a solid kickoff return to near midfield that was negated with a holding penalty and the final drive for the Hurricanes went quietly in a very depressing defeat for a program that has now lost six in a row.
Louisiana Tech (-11½) 27, Texas San Antonio 20: This under-the-radar Conference USA clash attracted a lot of action with an opening line of -7 climbing all the way up to -13 before buy-back on Saturday. Early on the underdog looked promising with a 10-6 lead at halftime but in the third quarter Louisiana Tech scored three touchdowns in about a five-minute span of game clock aided by turnovers. The host was just past the spread early in the fourth quarter even after a Texas San Antonio field goal but the Roadrunners added a touchdown after getting great field position after a lousy Louisiana Tech punt. Both teams threatened to score again late but Louisiana Tech missed a field goal and Texas San Antonio fell short on downs needing seven.
Middle Tennessee State (-2) 34, UAB 22: The upstart Blazers appeared on their way to another upset with a 22-21 lead entering the fourth quarter but Middle Tennessee State took the lead in the fourth with a 67-yard touchdown run. UAB wound up with interceptions on its next two drives and with about two minutes to go the Blue Raiders hit a big pass play to seal the win.
Florida Atlantic (+3) 45, Western Kentucky 38: The Hilltoppers scored with 12 seconds left in the first half to go up 31-14 but Florida Atlantic stormed back to get within 10 by the start of the fourth quarter. The Owls wound up outscoring Western Kentucky 31-7 in the second half and with two touchdowns in the final 2:18 Florida Atlantic delivered the outright upset by forcing two Western Kentucky punts.
Texas Tech (-11½) 34, Kansas 21: The spread on this game fell from as high as -14½ down to just -11½ by kickoff and the final margin fell in the middle. Kansas scored with three seconds left in the third quarter to close within six but Texas Tech answered quickly in the fourth quarter to go up by 13. Kansas fumbled in Texas Tech territory on its next possession and neither team seriously threatened to score the rest of the game.
Nebraska (-7) 38, Northwestern 17: Northwestern led Nebraska 17-14 at the half and the Cornhuskers were short of the spread entering the fourth quarter up just 21-17. Nebraska passed the spread for the first time with an early fourth quarter touchdown and then added 10 more points in the final frame on short fields after woes in the punting game for the Wildcats, getting a 15-yard penalty to put Nebraska at midfield and then having a short kick returned to its own 19-yard line late in the game to help Nebraska pull away.
San Diego State (-10) 20, Hawaii 10: The late game Saturday night fell right on the closing number but most on the Aztecs won as the spread was as low as -7 earlier in the week. San Diego State led by just seven entering the fourth quarter but a short field goal with six minutes to go pushed San Diego State to the 10-point margin with an overwhelming yardage advantage. Hawaii was immediately intercepted in its final legitimate chance to score and San Diego State eventually handed the ball back to the Warriors on downs rather than kicking another short field goal and risking a block, three points that would have been pretty important for a number of people.