There’s just something about Northwestern and bad beats. You might recall back in October 2013, the host Wildcats trailed Ohio State 34-30 and faced a third-and-18 on their own 8-yard line. There were only 5 seconds left in the game.
The Buckeyes, laying 6.5 points, busted up a hook-and-lateral play, forcing a fumble that they recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to win and cover, 40-30. The play is now a staple in the introduction to Scott Van Pelt’s weekly Bad Beats segment on SportsCenter, replete with Brent Musburger’s unforgettable call: “There are some folks who are celebrating, and other folks who are saying, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’”
Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, Calif., where Northwestern met Stanford to open the season. With 30 seconds left, Northwestern trailed 10-7 and faced first-and-10 from its own 22. Hunter Johnson rolled out to his left to elude rushers, got crushed and fumbled the ball, and Stanford’s Jordan Fox recovered in the end zone.
So the Cardinals won 17-7 as 6.5-point favorites. Northwestern bettors were rightly sick to their stomachs, with a cover all but in the bag as long as the clock just ran out. Again.
It certainly helped the bottom line at a few Vegas sportsbooks.
“We had a six-figure swing go our way on that finish,” Scott Shelton, sportsbook supervisor at The Mirage, told Covers. “No bad beat here!”
Added Jeff Davis, director of trading for Caesars Palace sportsbooks: “We needed Stanford to cover or Northwestern outright win. The swing was good for us, but not too crazy.”
Likewise, CG Technology risk analyst Dave Sharapan said the fluke play “was a good turn for us.”
SuperBook USA manager Derek Wilkinson perhaps described it best. “We needed Stanford, so we did pretty well because of that nonsense,” Wilkinson said.
However, South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said the fumble-recovery TD put his shop on the wrong side of the ledger.
“It wasn’t a big decision, but Northwestern covering would have been better,” Andrews said. “No big deal, though.”
Regardless of whether that was a bad beat or a cathartic cover for you, it will no doubt live on forever in the Bad Beats Hall of Fame. And if you missed it, well, Van Pelt and Stanford Steve will surely have it featured in Monday night’s segment. As the game ended, Van Pelt tweeted out:
“The end of Stanford/NW is so gross. So, so gross. It’s certain to be on Monday.”
Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior writer for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers_Vegas.
