The Worst Bad Beats From The Football Weekend
Bettors were left shaking their heads after these four games went final
- South Carolina backdoored Alabama in the final seconds.
- Texas returned a kickoff for a TD in the last minute against Rice for a miracle cover.
- If you bet the over in the Cincinnati vs. Miami (Ohio) game, you got hosed.
- Broncos moneyline backers have reason to be upset after what happened against the Bears.
Alabama Loses a Cover With 11 Seconds Left
The Game: Alabama (-26) at South Carolina
The Score: Alabama 47-23
BetQL Model: Alabama ★
The Beat: The Crimson Tide were never really in trouble of being upset by the Gamecocks last Saturday, and they seemed set to pick up a cover late in the fourth quarter. Mac Jones stepped in for Tua Tagovailoa and led Alabama on a 12-play 80-yard drive that took almost eight minutes off the clock, putting the Crimson Tide up 47-16 with 2:04 remaining.
All Alabama needed to do was not relinquish a touchdown in South Carolina’s final drive, but the Crimson Tide went into a prevent defense which allowed Gamecocks freshman Ryan Hilinski to dink and dunk his way down the field. South Carolina made it down to the Alabama 23 before the defense stiffened, and it appeared that the Crimson Tide had stopped South Carolina on fourth down with 15 seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately, Christian Barmore picked up a roughing the passer penalty on an incomplete pass allowing the drive to continue and on the next play Hilinski found paydirt. His 11-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Markway allowed South Carolina to cover as a 26-point underdog.
Cincinnati and Miami (OH) Couldn’t Score in the 4th Quarter
The Game: Miami (OH) vs. Cincinnati (O/U 49.5)
The Score: 35-13 Cincinnati
BetQL Model: Under 49.5 ★
The Beat: It’s worth noting that BetQL’s Model came out on the right side here too, but this one hurt bettors who ended up on the wrong side.
Cincinnati led Miami of Ohio 35-13 entering the fourth quarter, and the two teams needed just one more score to push the total over 49.5 points. A safety, field goal, or touchdown would have done the job, but the two schools couldn’t produce a single point in a bitter loss for those who bet the over.
The Redhawks could only muster seven yards on six plays in the fourth quarter, but the real gut wrencher was what the Bearcats did in Miami of Ohio territory. Punting from the Miami 35 stung, but then Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell eschewed easy points for no real reason. The Bearcats had fourth and goal from Miami’s 8 with under five minutes to play and it seemed a short field goal was upcoming. However, Fickell decided to keep the offense on the field instead. Cincinnati committed a false start, making it fourth and goal from the 13, but he didn’t change his mind and the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs when a Desmond Ridder pass fell incomplete. Fickell’s postgame comments about the move obfuscated the decision even more, leaving over bettors with no real insight on why Cincinnati went for it there.
Texas Houses a Kickoff to Cover
The Game: Texas (-32) at Rice
The Score: Texas 48-13
BetQL Model: Rice +32 ★★★★
The Beat: First of all, BetQL Premium members did not get beat here. However, those who placed the 84 percent of tickets and 56 percent of the money on Texas in this matchup suffered a bad beat.
The Longhorns jumped out to a 31-0 lead over the Rice Owls on Saturday afternoon, and bettors that were holding a Texas -32 ticket had to be feeling good. Rice had only gained 66 total yards on six first half drives, as the Longhorns defense completely shut down the Owls offense.
Texas made the lead 38-0 at the end of the third quarter, but the defense relented and Rice scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to threaten a backdoor cover. The Owls were down 41-13 and within the number when they kicked off to Jamison with 1:07 left on the clock, but 14 seconds later Texas was on top once more. Jamison took the kick back 98 yards for a touchdown to give Longhorns bettors a deserved cover.
A Roughing the Passer Penalty Costs Denver Moneyline Backers Big
The Game: Bears (-150) at Broncos
The Score: Bears 16-14
BetQL Model: Bears ★★
The Beat: Our NFL Model came out on top here, but 49 percent of the money was wagered on the Broncos moneyline. Therefore, it was a bad beat for quite a few bettors out there.
The Denver Broncos are 0-2, and they have to be shell-shocked after their most recent loss. Denver fell to Chicago 16-14 in Mile High Stadium on Sunday despite crossing the 50-yard line on eight of nine drives against the Bears’ defense.
The Broncos were up 14-13 with 31 seconds left after Joe Flacco engineered a 62-yard touchdown drive and converted a two-point conversion to put Denver moneyline bettors in position to cash. Chicago started its final drive on its own 25, and the Bears were immediately gifted 15 yards after one of the softest roughing the passer calls you’ll ever see. Bradley Chubb was flagged despite being partially blocked into Mitchell Trubisky, but the misfortune didn’t stop there.
Chicago converted on fourth-and-15 with nine seconds on the clock to get in position for a long field goal. Allen Robinson caught the ball in the middle of the field and time would have run out if Chris Harris did not run up and attempt to make a tackle. From there, Eddy Pineiro knocked home a field goal to give the Bears the win, but at least those who took Denver +3 covered.
Check back next week for what will certainly be a new slew of bad beats to re-live. Access our NFL Best Bets and NCAA Football Best Bets for a data-driven approach that will help you build your bankroll one week at a time.