Bad beats: Miami’s poor late game-decision is the worst betting turn of the season

When your opponent has no timeouts left and there is less than a minute remaining, only one play call makes sense: take a knee. Unless the game is well out of hand, there is no reason to run the football with the game in the balance.

Apparently, no one told Miami coach Mario Cristobal. In a game that was already decided, the No. 25 Hurricanes somehow turned a three-point lead with 35 seconds remaining into one of the most embarrassing losses in recent college football memory.

Miami’s late-game blunder leads the worst betting turns of the past week in sports.

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If you took the money line on Miami Saturday night, you are probably kicking yourself. After burning down the clock, the Hurricanes were one play away from running out the clock to secure the win after Georgia Tech used its last timeout with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

Up 20-17 and facing a third down, Miami, a -1400 favorite on the money line entering the game at BetMGM, chose to run the ball instead of kneeling, and that decision proved costly. The Hurricanes fumbled, Georgia Tech recovered it and four plays later, Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown with one second remaining to sink Miami’s undefeated season.

“If the game ended at 20-17, the game would have already been a huge winner for BetMGM; the public was all over Miami at -19.5 and every alt-line spread we offered,” Alex Rella, sports trader for BetMGM told the Inquirer.

“So many bettors like to make multiple leg parlays of massive favorites or bettors might just add it onto any wager for a little extra juice since it seems like a sure thing on paper, as Miami closed at -1400. Georgia Tech’s epic comeback broke up all these parlays and helped us have a winning day on Saturday.”

This isn’t Cristobal’s first time experiencing this situation. In 2018, as Oregon’s head coach, Cristobal’s Ducks fumbled with 51 seconds left up 31-28, allowing Stanford to kick the game-tying field goal. The Cardinal went on to win in overtime, 38-31.

Elsewhere in college football, LSU and Missouri played an entertaining, high-scoring game in Columbia, trading touchdowns throughout the game. LSU entered as 5.5-point road favorites, but was clinging to a 42-39 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Missouri had a chance to send the game to overtime, but instead, LSU’s Major Burns turned a Brady Cook pass into a 17-yard pick-six to essentially end the game, giving LSU the 49-39 win and the cover. Even if Missouri turned the ball over on downs, LSU would have likely kneeled to end the game.