Bad beats: Florida helps over bettors, Vikings-Packers somehow stays under the total
Another week brings another collection of gut-wrenching bad beats for football bettors.
There's a reason we wait until Monday to release these. Hopefully, if you were on the wrong end of one or more of these outcomes, you've had enough time to hit the reset button.
As always, if you bet on any of these, our sincerest condolences.
Florida 29, Kentucky 21Bad beat: Under 47.5
Trailing 22-21 in the waning minutes of the fourth, upset-minded Kentucky drove deep into Florida territory. Under bettors were rooting for a missed field goal or turnover to give Florida the ball back; they even would have settled for a successful field goal to keep the combined score at 46, putting the pressure on the Gators and their backup quarterback to drive into field-goal range in a limited amount of time.
But when Kentucky placekicker Chance Poore missed his attempt, it was time to burn the clock.
No good! Chance Poore misses and Kentucky goes down after a Florida #Gators comeback! pic.twitter.com/ArkTAyQo7I
- Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinnerNFL) September 15, 2019
Perfect, right? Now Gators head coach Dan Mullen can call a couple of halfback draws up the middle, maybe churn out a first down and seal the game, get into victory formation - WHAT ARE THEY DOING? WHO'S CONTAINING THE EDGE?!
See Ya! ''
- Stadium (@Stadium) September 15, 2019
Josh Hammond helps seal @GatorsFB's win over Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/XIx8baTfoG
As someone who personally dabbled in the "under" here, the 0:05 mark of this video is when I realized that Josh Hammond was prepared to shatter my heart into 100,000 pieces. Before he even took the handoff, I turned the game off and went to sleep. Hammond streaking down the sideline with a Wildcats defender close, yet not close enough, was the longest six seconds of my life. I was clean-shaven when that play started and had a beard by the end.
Texas 48, Rice 13Bad beat: Rice +32.5
Betting on Rice is not for the faint of heart in general. Saturday's beat was death by a thousand cuts.
Down 41-6 late in the fourth with a backdoor cover opportunity, the Owls drove 75 yards in eight plays and scored their second touchdown of the night ... for the cover!
On the ensuing kickoff, things went horribly, horribly wrong.
Rice scored its second TD of the game, then Texas' D'Shawn Jamison did this pic.twitter.com/xx9D1CsWFk
- Kaelen Jones (@kaelenjones) September 15, 2019
Rice bettors would have preferred to lose by 70.
Clemson 41, Syracuse 6Bad beat: Syracuse +28.5
Remember when Clemson spurned bettors last weekend by allowing a last-second touchdown to Texas A&M? The Tigers returned the favor Saturday against Syracuse.
After the Orange turned it over on downs with one minute remaining, Clemson opted to run the ball instead of going into victory formation.
You know what's coming, right?
Vikings 16, Packers 21The key block to spring true freshman RB Chez Mellusi's first career TD was made by another true freshman OG Will Putnam. #Reload pic.twitter.com/J1VGhUDUTP
- Tiger Commenter (@TigerCommenter) September 16, 2019
Bad beat: Over 43.5
Vikings-Packers on Sunday was the perfect example of why you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch.
Check out the score and time here and add another seven points with this Dalvin Cook 75-yarder.
There's fast.
- Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 15, 2019
And then there is @DalvinCook fast.#Skol pic.twitter.com/9hdvutaIUu
Now look at the score and time here:
A HUGE play in the game! Kevin King goes up and takes it. Having him healthy is crucial to the success of our defense. TM"pic.twitter.com/XCHfuJmgrg
- GBP Daily (@GBPdaily) September 15, 2019
That's nine points in the final 44 minutes. Bettors on the under probably had to fish through the garbage for that ticket.
Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 12 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AlexKoIodziej.
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