College Football Week 4 Rewind

Daniel Dobish Sports Betting Expert

8 minute read

Another week of college football is in the books, and it was another wild week in the rankings, too. We saw some big-time programs go down, as Kansas State topped Oklahoma in Norman, Miami lost at home as a giant favorite against lowly Middle Tennessee, and there were several other double-digit underdogs able to pull off upsets. There was also an FCS team which won by more than touchdowns on the road against an FBS team. What in the world?

Also, believe it or not, it isn't even the end of September, and we have had teams like Duke (3), Kansas (2.5) and Vanderbilt (2.5) already equal or go OVER their projected preseason win total. UL Monroe (2.5) needs just one more win the rest of the season to go OVER, as does New Mexico (2.5).

Updated on 05/11/2024

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 4 RESULTS

WAGER (Favorites-Underdogs)
Straight Up (SU): 52-14
Against the Spread (ATS): 28-38
WAGER (Home-Away)
Straight Up (SU): 45-21
Against the Spread (ATS): 27-39
WAGER (Totals O/U)
Over-Under: 34-32

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON RESULTS

WAGER (Favorites-Underdogs)
Straight Up (SU): 258-56
Against the Spread (ATS): 162-151-1
WAGER (Home-Away)
Straight Up (SU): 233-77
Against the Spread (ATS): 158-151-1
WAGER (Totals O/U)
Over-Under: 160-154

BIGGEST UNDERDOGS TO CASH

Middle Tennessee (+25.5, ML ) 45 @ Miami-Florida 31
Southern Miss (+17.5, ML ) 27 @ Tulane 24
Navy (+16.5, ML ) 23 @ East Carolina 20 (OT)
UTEP (+16.5, ML ) 27 vs. Boise State 10
Kansas State (+13.5, ML ) 41 @ Oklahoma 34
UL Monroe (+9.5, ML ) 21 vs. Louisiana 17
Texas Tech (+7, ML ) 37 vs. Texas 34 (OT)
Buffalo (+6.5, ML ) 50 @ Eastern Michigan 31
James Madison (+6.5, ML ) 32 @ Appalachian State 28
Miami-Ohio (+6.5, ML ) 17 @ Northwestern 14

BIGGEST FAVORITES TO CASH

Alabama (-40.5) 55 vs. Vanderbilt 3
LSU (-31.5) 38 vs. New Mexico 0
Western Kentucky (-31.5) 73 vs. Florida International 0
Texas State (-26.5) 34 vs. Houston Christian 0
Air Force (-24.5) 48 vs. Nevada 20
South Carolina (-23.5) 56 vs. South Carolina 20
Florida State (-25.5) 44 vs. Boston College 14
Cincinnati (-17.5) 45 vs. Indiana 24
Ohio State (-17.5) 52 vs. Wisconsin 21
Louisville (-15.5) 41 vs. South Florida 3

BIGGEST ROAD FAVORITE TO CASH

Utah (-17) 34 @ Arizona State 13

BIGGEST BAD BEAT OF THE WEEK

Let's go down south this week. It was 14-14 at halftime in the SEC Battle of the Tigers, between Missouri and Auburn down on The Plains. Mizzou and Auburn played to a scoreless tie in the second half, but it didn't have to be that way.

The Tigers of Mizzou drove down the field in the final quarter, and had a chance to win the game at the buzzer. Not only did it have a chance to win, but Missouri was deep in Auburn territory late. In fact, it was inside the 5 of Auburn with just a few seconds remaining in regulation. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz decided to have QB Brady Cook center the football for PK Harrison Mevis to knock through the potential game-winning field goal from just 26 yards out.

There were no timeouts to ice the kicker. It was a clean operation from long snapper to holder. Mevis looked more like Beavis, or Butt-Head, hooking the presumably chip-shot and easy field goal right of the sticks, sending the game to overtime instead.

If you were holding a Missouri money line ticket, you were livid. But, you still had a chance.

The Tigers of Auburn had the ball first in OT, and ended up with a 44-yard field goal chance. Auburn PK Anders Carlson misfired on the attempt, but an offsides penalty gave him another chance, and he drilled the 39-yard field goal to put Auburn up 17-14. Mizzou would get their chance.

RB Nathaniel Peat broke free down the left side for Missouri, galloping toward the pylon. He lunged out with the football, and lost control at the 1, fumbling it into the end zone while flailing for the game-winning touchdown. Auburn pounced on it, and if you were a money line backer of Missouri, it was like losing twice.

Head coach Bryan Harsin was reportedly about to lose his job, had Auburn lost to Missouri. So Peat's miscue at the goal-line saved him for at least one more week, but perhaps nobody has a hotter coaching seat than Harsin. Welcome to the SEC.

BAD BEAT HONORABLE MENTIONS

TCU at SMU (Total - 73.5)

With a total of 73.5, you know the books were expecting plenty of points. And that's what we ended up getting. When the dust settled, TCU ended up with the 42-34 road victory against SMU.

If you had an UNDER wager, you already know it's rather dangerous behavior playing totals UNDER in college football. It's especially risky in a game where plenty of points are expected.

We had 42 total points on the board at halftime, as TCU led 28-14. So you were on the wrong side of things early on, but things improved dramatically in the third quarter. We had just one touchdown, a rushing score for SMU, cutting it to 28-21 heading to the fourth quarter. We didn't have another point until 8:14 to go, when TCU scored on a 1-yard scoring plunge.

It was 35-27 in favor of TCU before RB Emari Demercado rattled off a 63-yard touchdown run to salt things away at 42-27. But the UNDER was still cashing. Unfortunately for UNDER bettors, with 64 seconds left on the clock, SMU QB Tanner Mordecai hit WR Jake Bailey for a 35-yard touchdown to cut it to 42-34, and flip the total OVER.

UCLA at COLORADO (Total - 56.5)

The Bruins comfortably led it 45-10 late into the fourth quarter, as UCLA scored at least seven points in every quarter in this game. The defense was doing a great job, though, against the hapless Buffaloes. However, with just 2:59 to go in regulation, QB Owen McCown connected with WR Jordyn Tyson on a meaningless 8-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 45-17.

While that late touchdown had no bearing on the result of the game, nor did it affect the line, it did flip the total from UNDER to OVER.

TULSA at OLE MISS (Total - 65.5)

In Oxford, the Golden Hurricane and Rebels combined for 52 total points by halftime, with Ole Miss leading 35-17. Surely OVER bettors would be in good shape here, right?

Well, Tulsa scored the only points of the second half, as Lane Kiffin's group took their foot off the gas in the second half. The Golden Hurricane outscored the Rebs 3-0 in the third quarter, and just 7-0 in the final quarter, as Tulsa fell 35-27. It was amazing this ended up a one-score game, but even more so, it was amazing we had a miraculous UNDER result after so many points in the first 30 minutes.

BALL STATE (+9.5) at GEORGIA SOUTHERN

Man, if you had Ball State catching the points, you were on the right side all day. Until you weren't.

Ball State played Georgia Southern to a 3-3 tie after 15 minutes, and it was down 13-10 at halftime. The Cardinals fired out of the break with a field goal to tie 13-13 at 8:56 to go in the third, and after 45 minutes it was tied up 20-20. Ball State actually took the lead 23-20 early in the fourth quarter, and held that lead until 7:04 to go when WR Jjay McAfee hauled in a 7-yard touchdown from QB Kyle Vantrease. The Eagles led 27-23, but the Cardinals were still covering.

Unfortunately for Ball State side bettors, with just 100 ticks left in regulation, Georgia Southern hit a 47-yard touchdown for score to make it 34-23, flipping yet another UNDER to an OVER.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS at KENTUCKY (Total 53)

We had a total of 14 points in the first quarter, and 28 points on the board at halftime, with the game tied 14-14 between the MAC school and top-10 SEC squad.

The Wildcats fired out of the break with a QB Will Levis 70-yard touchdown to WR Barion Brown, as the Wildcats were up 21-14. UNDER bettors were not thrilled. Kentucky scored 17 unanswered points to make it 31-14 with 8:46 to go in regulation.

NIU wasn't going away. The Huskies scored twice within less than three minutes, making it just 31-23 with 2:47 to go. It was a one-score game, but that was all for the scoring. But, at most shops, it was just enough to flip the total from UNDER to OVER in the waning moments of regulation.

FAU (ML +550) at PURDUE

It appeared that the Owls of FAU were about to spoil homecoming in West Lafayette. FAU was down just 14-13 against the injury-plagued Purdue side, and it was 21-20 in favor of the Boilermakers after three quarters.

FAU had so many missed opportunities in this one. It appeared QB N'Kosi Perry hit WR Je'Quan Burton with a 3-yard touchdown with 11:32 left in the fourth quarter to go up, but the go-ahead score was wiped out by a questionable illegal block call. The next play was an interception the other way.

FAU still had a chance, down just two points, but with less than a minute to go on a fourth-and-inches, Perry tried stretching over the line to gain, had the ball jarred loose, and the Boilermakers recovered to save homecoming from a disastrous loss as a 17-point favorite.

UCONN at NC STATE (-38, Total - 48)

The Wolfpack were up 31-3 at halftime, and this one looked like it was going to go OVER easily. However, the scoring slowed to a snails' pace in the third quarter, with just one more NC State score. It 41-3 late into the fourth quarter, and side bettors were hoping for the push, or a late Pack score, while OVER bettors wanted any score.

UConn saw RB Victor Rosa go for an 11-yard scoring scamper with 2:08 left, cutting the NC State lead to 41-10. That flipped the total from UNDER to OVER, a common theme on this day, while the Huskies grabbed the backdoor cover, too.

Daniel Dobish

Dan is a handicapper and sports betting expert for VegasInsider with years of experience writing for a number of top publications in the industry. More from Daniel Dobish