Controversial Oklahoma TD, late Chargers surge among weekend's worst gambling bad beats
Rob Nelson
12/3/18
From the Big 12 Championship Game to Sunday Night Football, it was yet another weekend of unfortunate results for some bettors.
These are this past weekend's worst bad beats.
Saturday
Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners
Line: Oklahoma -9.5
Betting Tom Herman as an underdog has been a profitable strategy since he became a head coach in 2015. He entered Saturday's Big 12 Championship Game with a 12-1-1 ATS record and nine outright wins in 14 career games as an underdog.
That trend should have continued, but unfortunately, for some, it didn't.
Texas led the entire first half until Oklahoma rallied to take a 20-14 lead in the final minute before halftime. The Longhorns battled back to tie the game at 27 entering the fourth quarter. The Sooners, however, scored the game's final 12 points to not only solidify a spot in the College Football Playoff, but cover the spread against Texas for the first time in the last seven meetings between these rivals.
It wasn't without controversy, though. Oklahoma's touchdown on third-and-10, which put them up 12 and allowed them to cover the spread, should have actually been called an illegal formation. It wasn't called, though, and while Texas had a chance for a backdoor cover after reaching the red zone on its final drive, Sam Ehlinger was picked off by Tre Norwood to seal the game.
Final score: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27 (Oklahoma covered)
East Carolina Pirates at NC State Wolfpack
Line: Over/under 60.5
This game was completely dominated by NC State, as they easily covered the 25-point spread. It was those who had action on the over/under of 60.5 that had to sweat out the ending of this blowout.
The Wolfpack led 41-0 entering the fourth quarter, with bettors on the under needing to avoid 20 points in the final 15 minutes. After the Wolfpack extended their lead to 58-0, it came down to one final drive for East Carolina. With the Pirates facing a fourth-and-long on the game's final play, they elected to attempt a field goal to avoid being shut out. This turned out to be a significant play in the gambling world, as Jake Verity's 46-yarder split the uprights to send the total over by half-a-point with zero seconds on the clock.
Final score: NC State 58, East Carolina 3 (total went over)
Akron Zips at South Carolina Gamecocks
Line: South Carolina -28.5
This was a weird game. On a rainy and sloppy day in Columbia, South Carolina led 28-3 at halftime.
Those who had the Gamecocks -28.5 had to feel good about that margin with 30 minutes left. Then came the second half, in which neither team scored any points. This was even more frustrating for bettors on South Carolina. The Gamecocks had three turnovers after halftime, with all three coming in Akron territory.
Final score: South Carolina 28, Akron 3 (Akron covered)
Clemson Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
First half line: Clemson -17
There were a ton of trends that pointed to Pittsburgh's recent and historic success as an underdog in this spot. Those trends didn't come through, though, as the Panthers allowed a late touchdown to lose by 32 as 28-point underdogs.
While that was unfortunate, those who had Pitt on the first-half line walked away with the worst bad beat from this game.
After quickly falling behind 14-0, things weren't looking good if you had the Panthers +17 in the first half. But Pitt battled back, and trailed 14-10 with less than five minutes left until halftime. Clemson responded by scoring 14 straight points, including a Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins 10-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left. That second score was set up by Pitt's Kenny Pickett throwing an interception in the final minute to set up that unlucky finish to the half. Those on the Panthers failed to cover by a point.
Halftime score: Clemson 28, Pittsburgh 10 (Clemson covered)
Sunday
Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Line: Steelers -3
This marked the third straight week that the Sunday Night Football game ended up with an unfortunate result for some unlucky bettors out there. This might not be a typical bad beat, but ask anyone who had the Steelers how they're feeling Monday morning. It's safe to say that the feeling is not a good one.
The Steelers led 23-7 at halftime, and the only reason it was that "close" was because of a terrible missed false start call on Philip Rivers' 46-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin. While they might not have known it at the time, Pittsburgh backers had to feel good about the fact that the Steelers had never blown a 16-point lead at home in franchise history (174-0-1).
Turns out there's a first time for everything. The last 17 minutes of the game felt like a slow, painful trainwreck for those laying the three points. The Chargers scored 26 points in the final 16 minutes and 47 seconds, capped off by Michael Badgley's game-winning 29-yard field goal as time expired. This came after multiple offside penalties on missed attempts from 39 and 34 yards. Just brutal.
Final score: Chargers 33, Steelers 30 (Chargers covered)
Rob Nelson
12/3/18
From the Big 12 Championship Game to Sunday Night Football, it was yet another weekend of unfortunate results for some bettors.
These are this past weekend's worst bad beats.
Saturday
Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners
Line: Oklahoma -9.5
Betting Tom Herman as an underdog has been a profitable strategy since he became a head coach in 2015. He entered Saturday's Big 12 Championship Game with a 12-1-1 ATS record and nine outright wins in 14 career games as an underdog.
That trend should have continued, but unfortunately, for some, it didn't.
Texas led the entire first half until Oklahoma rallied to take a 20-14 lead in the final minute before halftime. The Longhorns battled back to tie the game at 27 entering the fourth quarter. The Sooners, however, scored the game's final 12 points to not only solidify a spot in the College Football Playoff, but cover the spread against Texas for the first time in the last seven meetings between these rivals.
It wasn't without controversy, though. Oklahoma's touchdown on third-and-10, which put them up 12 and allowed them to cover the spread, should have actually been called an illegal formation. It wasn't called, though, and while Texas had a chance for a backdoor cover after reaching the red zone on its final drive, Sam Ehlinger was picked off by Tre Norwood to seal the game.
Final score: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27 (Oklahoma covered)
East Carolina Pirates at NC State Wolfpack
Line: Over/under 60.5
This game was completely dominated by NC State, as they easily covered the 25-point spread. It was those who had action on the over/under of 60.5 that had to sweat out the ending of this blowout.
The Wolfpack led 41-0 entering the fourth quarter, with bettors on the under needing to avoid 20 points in the final 15 minutes. After the Wolfpack extended their lead to 58-0, it came down to one final drive for East Carolina. With the Pirates facing a fourth-and-long on the game's final play, they elected to attempt a field goal to avoid being shut out. This turned out to be a significant play in the gambling world, as Jake Verity's 46-yarder split the uprights to send the total over by half-a-point with zero seconds on the clock.
Final score: NC State 58, East Carolina 3 (total went over)
Akron Zips at South Carolina Gamecocks
Line: South Carolina -28.5
This was a weird game. On a rainy and sloppy day in Columbia, South Carolina led 28-3 at halftime.
Those who had the Gamecocks -28.5 had to feel good about that margin with 30 minutes left. Then came the second half, in which neither team scored any points. This was even more frustrating for bettors on South Carolina. The Gamecocks had three turnovers after halftime, with all three coming in Akron territory.
Final score: South Carolina 28, Akron 3 (Akron covered)
Clemson Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
First half line: Clemson -17
There were a ton of trends that pointed to Pittsburgh's recent and historic success as an underdog in this spot. Those trends didn't come through, though, as the Panthers allowed a late touchdown to lose by 32 as 28-point underdogs.
While that was unfortunate, those who had Pitt on the first-half line walked away with the worst bad beat from this game.
After quickly falling behind 14-0, things weren't looking good if you had the Panthers +17 in the first half. But Pitt battled back, and trailed 14-10 with less than five minutes left until halftime. Clemson responded by scoring 14 straight points, including a Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins 10-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left. That second score was set up by Pitt's Kenny Pickett throwing an interception in the final minute to set up that unlucky finish to the half. Those on the Panthers failed to cover by a point.
Halftime score: Clemson 28, Pittsburgh 10 (Clemson covered)
Sunday
Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Line: Steelers -3
This marked the third straight week that the Sunday Night Football game ended up with an unfortunate result for some unlucky bettors out there. This might not be a typical bad beat, but ask anyone who had the Steelers how they're feeling Monday morning. It's safe to say that the feeling is not a good one.
The Steelers led 23-7 at halftime, and the only reason it was that "close" was because of a terrible missed false start call on Philip Rivers' 46-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin. While they might not have known it at the time, Pittsburgh backers had to feel good about the fact that the Steelers had never blown a 16-point lead at home in franchise history (174-0-1).
Turns out there's a first time for everything. The last 17 minutes of the game felt like a slow, painful trainwreck for those laying the three points. The Chargers scored 26 points in the final 16 minutes and 47 seconds, capped off by Michael Badgley's game-winning 29-yard field goal as time expired. This came after multiple offside penalties on missed attempts from 39 and 34 yards. Just brutal.
Final score: Chargers 33, Steelers 30 (Chargers covered)
