Colorado bettors get backdoor cover vs. UCLA; UNLV covers in loss
The Review-Journal’s Todd Dewey will track the biggest betting storylines every Saturday of the college football season.
Colorado and coach Deion Sanders didn’t deliver an outright win for bettors who backed them on the money line, but the Buffaloes came through with a backdoor cover Saturday night in a 28-16 loss to UCLA.
Colorado, which closed as a 14-point underdog and 5-1 on the money line, trailed by 19 in the final minutes when Shedeur Sanders threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Horn Jr. with 2:37 left for the final margin of victory.
UCLA led 7-6 at halftime before scoring TDs on three of its first four possessions of the second half to go ahead 28-9.
On Saturday morning, not a single ticket or dollar had been wagered on the favored Bruins on the money line at BetMGM.
“It’s still 100% on Colorado,” MGM Resorts director of trading Lamarr Mitchell said via text message.
But two money-line tickets trickled in on the Bruins at -700 on Saturday afternoon. Per The Mirage sportsbook manager Scott Shelton, one bet was for $1,000 to win $142 and the other was for $20 to win $2.86.
Colorado, which was coming off a bye, has lost four of five games following a 3-0 start and is 5-3 against the spread.
Big bet
A Caesars Sportsbook bettor in Nevada lost a $72,138.10 wager on Southern California -10 over California. But the Trojans rallied for a wild 50-49 win over the Bears to end a two-game losing streak when they stopped California’s 2-point conversion attempt with 58 seconds left.
USC stormed back after trailing by 11 at halftime, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter and taking a 50-43 lead on Austin Jones’ 7-yard TD run with 3:33 remaining.
The game flew over the total of 67 early in the fourth quarter. USC has gone over in six straight games and has an 8-1 over-under mark this season.
Rebel yelp
UNLV (6-2) had its five-game winning streak snapped in a 31-24 loss at Fresno State on Saturday night, but covered the spread for the seventh time in eight games.
The Rebels, who closed as 10½-point underdogs, led 17-7 at halftime before Mikey Keane threw three TD passes on the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up 31-17.
UNLV closed to 31-24 on Jayden Maiava’s 15-yard TD pass to Ricky White with 12:22 remaining and had a chance to tie it in the final seconds.
Maiava drove the Rebels to the 8 and lofted an apparent TD pass to a wide-open Senika McKie. But McKie dropped the ball, and Levelle Bailey intercepted Maiava’s pass on the next play to end it.
Streaks stopped
Kansas, a 7½-point home underdog to Oklahoma, snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Sooners when Devin Neal ran for a 9-yard score with 55 seconds left to lift the Jayhawks to a 38-33 victory.
Bo Nix threw for 248 yards and two TDs to lead Oregon, a 6½-point favorite, to a 35-6 win over Utah, snapping the Utes’ 18-game home winning streak.
Penn State sweat
A DraftKings bettor wagered $6,800 to win $85 on Penn State on the money line (-8,000) and had to sweat a bit before cashing the ticket.
The Nittany Lions were 31-point favorites over Indiana but the game was tied at 24-all after the Hoosiers kicked a field goal with 2:58 left.
Three plays later, Penn State took the lead for good on Drew Allar’s 57-yard TD pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith. The Nittany Lions added a safety en route to their 33-24 triumph.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.