NC State vs. Vanderbilt will either go down as the worst bad beat or the greatest sweat of the college football season, depending on which side you were betting on.
NC State entered the game as a 3.5-point underdog, had a 24-7 lead in the third quarter, and seemed to survive a late rally from Vandy in the fourth.
The Wolfpack held a 31-28 lead and had the ball on their own 5-yard line with six seconds left in the game and a 94.4 percent chance to cover the spread, according to ESPN Analytics.
All they needed to do was run out the clock on fourth down to end the game and, if necessary, NC State quarterback CJ Bailey could have even run out of the end zone for a safety and still have won the game.
Yet somehow the worst possible scenario occurred when Vanderbilt defensive lineman Miles Capers forced a fumble and defensive back Cayden Daniels recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to give Vandy a 34-31 lead.
If the game ended there, as it appeared it did on the broadcast, NC State bettors would still have won their bets by the hook, but the worst part was yet to come.
After an official review of the play, referees confirmed the touchdown and determined that they needed to add one more second on the clock.
That meant Vanderbilt could go for the extra point, thus pushing the lead to four points and giving anyone who bet on the Commodores -3.5 a chance to cover in a stunning turn of events.
Vandy scored the extra point to send NC State bettors into a spiral while leaving them with a tiny glimmer of hope with one second left on the game clock.
After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, NC State attempted a series of laterals on its final play but fumbled the ball to end the game.
Over the past 20 seasons, teams with the ball and a lead in the final 10 seconds of a college football game were 1,046-1, as Michigan’s 2015 loss to Michigan State stood alone before NC State’s end-of-game blunder, per ESPN’s research.
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea hit the nail on the head describing the comeback win and finish.
“The reality is that we didn’t play well enough,” coach Lea said. “I guess in that way, we cheated the football gods a little bit today and we got away with it.”
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
