Week 9 of the college football season is in the books and the action was full of bad beats, upsets and general chaos yesterday. Here’s the recap on all the big games from all conferences.
Northwestern Rolled. The Wildcats entered Saturday 9-2 against the spread in its last 11 games as an underdog with six wins. Add another to the record as Pat Fitzgerald’s team dominated the Badgers. Wisky had to start without starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook. And despite how much he is disliked, they were never really in the game.
Iowa State. Brock Purdy and the Cyclones pulled off a sneaky cover against Texas Tech after it looked like they gave away not only the spread but the win.
Leading 31-24, Purdy fumbled in the end zone (after Iowa State called for a fair catch at their own 4 yard line) and the Red Raiders recovered to tie it at 31 with 12:50 remaining. Four punts and an interception later, the game was still tied at 31 with 4:50 remaining. Texas Tech was called for intentional grounding in the end zone a on their first play of the possession, resulting in a safety.
When it looked like Iowa State just needed a first down to run out the clock for a 33-31 win, Purdy found Hakeem Butler for a 48-yard touchdown and the ultimate front door cover, winning 40-31.
Georgia/Florida. Georgia bettors holding -7 tickets had some uneasy moments with questionable clock management and red zone field goals. But Kirby Smart’s team rebounded from the loss to LSU to beat the Gators and cover, no problem, 36-17.
Quarterback Jake Fromm led the way with 240 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Florida actually had the lead in the third quarter when a touchdown on the first drive of the second half gave the Gators a 14-13 lead. The Bulldogs responded right away with a touchdown of their own for a 20-14 lead. Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks fumbled at the Florida 1, leading to a Georgia field goal and 23-14 lead before pulling away.
Oregon State stunner. This is well documented in our bad beats column. A 24-point favorite, Colorado led 31-3 with 14:48 remaining in the third quarter. Then all hell broke loose. Oregon State not only covered but won outright as a +1400 underdog, 41-34 in overtime.
Texas. The week that the first College Football Playoff rankings drop, No. 6 Texas traveled to Oklahoma State for a tough Big 12 matchup. The Longhorns opened as favorites but eventually closed as the betting faves.
However, Ok State didn’t seem to care. They jumped on Texas on their way to a 24-7 lead. Then they did exactly enough to hold off a Texas charge down the stretch. The Cowboys outgained Texas by over 100 yards and were more productive with the run. They were more efficient through the air as well. They were better on third down. Less penalized and won time of possession by almost nine minutes. And while the end result was a tight 38-35 win, it was enough for all Oklahoma State backers with the exception of anybody who got them at -3.5 early in the week.
Mizzou melt down. Mizzou was the rare unranked favorite playing against a top-15 team on Saturday and ultimately showed why they’re 1-3 in SEC play.
Leading Kentucky 14-3 in the fourth and covering the 7.5-point closing line, the Tigers gave up a 67-yard punt return touchdown with 5:18 remaining. The two-point try failed, leaving Missouri up 14-9. The Tigers then threw the ball on all three downs on the next possession ending in a three-and-out. Kentucky had the ball with just over four minutes remaining and threw an interception giving the Tigers a chance to ice the game.
On 3rd-and-2 with 1:41 remaining, Mizzou opted to throw the ball rather than run it and at least force Kentucky to lose its final timeout. As it almost always does. The incomplete pass led to a punt, and the timeout remaining saved Kentucky later.
Pitt. Entering this week at 3-4, Pitt has been at their best when they’ve been underdog in their own building. Like yesterday. The Panthers had two of their three wins come under those circumstances and closed as a 3-point underdog against Duke.
However, things looked relatively bleak when they trailed by seven entering the fourth quarter and then again when they were still losing inside 3:00 to go. However, a scoring flourish helped lead Pitt back for a wild and crazy win and cover.
Pitt got a 48-yard field goal to tie the game with 2:33 remaining, immediately forced a three-and-out and then 82 yards in seven plays for a touchdown to take the lead with five seconds left. To add insult, a Duke safety on the final play of the game made it 54-45 Pitt.
They moved to 4-4 on the season, 3-1 in the ACC and now have three outright wins as a home underdog.