Florida State, Texas A&M win, but backers lose

Top-ranked Florida State and No. 6 Texas A&M each escaped with wins Saturday to stay undefeated, but neither squad covered the spread, and South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro doesn’t expect either team to remain unbeaten this season.

Jameis Winston returned from a one-game suspension to throw for 365 yards and four touchdowns as the Seminoles (4-0) erased an early 24-7 deficit and a 38-28 second-half hole in a 56-41 win at North Carolina State.

Florida State opened as 27-point favorites, but the line was bet to 16 by kickoff as bettors hammered the Wolfpack and beat the bookmakers on the game.

“Florida State was a bad one (for the books). They kept betting N.C. State,” Vaccaro said. “It was not a huge liability day for us. Money was spread around pretty good.”

Winston guided Florida State to four straight second-half touchdown drives to put it in front for good en route to its school-record 20th straight win.

Vaccaro wasn’t surprised the Seminoles rallied, but he would be surprised if they repeat as national champions.

“Personally, I’ve got them three points less on my power rating (than last season),” he said. “I can’t put my finger on it. Obviously they’re a very, very good team, but I don’t think they’re gonna win the whole thing. I don’t think they’re as good as last year.”

The Aggies (5-0) scored the final 21 points on three touchdown passes by quarterback Kenny Hill to hand Arkansas a 35-28 defeat in overtime. But the Razorbacks covered the 9½-point spread to reward their backers and the books.

Hill threw two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to tie the score, then hit Malcome Kennedy for a 25-yard TD on the first play of overtime. The Razorbacks missed a 44-yard field goal with 2:29 left, and Alex Collins was stuffed at the line on fourth-and-1 in overtime.

“Two missed chip shots would’ve won the game for Arkansas. I don’t know what Arkansas was thinking on fourth-and-2 running the ball off tackle,” Vaccaro said. “(Hill) played well with two big plays in the fourth quarter, but I don’t think they’ll go undefeated.”

Hill, who threw for 386 yards and four TDs, has an outside shot to follow in the footsteps of former Aggie Johnny Manziel — who attended the game — and win the Heisman Trophy.

“When they were losing 28-14, they kept showing Johnny Manziel on the sidelines,” Vaccaro said. “I thought they were gonna put him in.”

Vaccaro said he likes No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Baylor — a 49-28 winner over Iowa State — to contend for the national title.

“Those two have as good a chance as anybody,” he said. “(Sooners coach) Bob Stoops always finds a way to lose one of the games they’re supposed to win, but they’re as talented as anybody. The Baylor kids can win 62-60 at any given time.”

Top-25 favorites went 7-8-1 ATS.

Vaccaro said the public won on No. 9 Michigan State, which easily covered a 28½-point spread in a 56-14 blowout of Wyoming, but the books cashed in on Minnesota, a 13-point underdog that cruised to a 30-14 upset of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

This is the first time the Wolverines (2-3) have three losses in September in their 135-year history.

“I don’t know what they see in Michigan, but they keep betting them,” Vaccaro said.

The books also won with Akron, a 21-point ’dog that won 21-10 at Pittsburgh, killing a lot of money-line bets and teasers. The public won on Western Kentucky, a 7½-point ’dog at Navy that beat the Midshipmen 36-27.

“That was probably our worst game of the day,” Vaccaro said as the night games got underway. “Everything else was very mediocre.”

Bettors suffered bad beats on South Carolina (-5½), San Diego State (-18) and Baylor (-21½), with the books profiting from the latter two results.

The Gamecocks took a 20-7 lead with 7:25 left, but Missouri stormed back with two touchdowns in the final seven minutes for a 21-20 win. The Tigers converted two fourth downs during their game-winning drive, including Russell Hansbrough’s 1-yard TD run with 1:36 left.

The Aztecs led 28-10 at halftime over UNLV and extended the lead to 31-10 early in the fourth quarter before Blake Decker answered with a 2-yard TD run to make the score 31-17. San Diego State then marched 66 yards to the Rebels’ 14-yard line before settling for a field goal and final margin of 34-17.

The Bears, who led 35-7 at halftime, tormented their backers when running back Silas Nacita was stopped at the Iowa State 5-yard line as time expired in their 49-28 win.

As excruciating as some games can be, Vaccaro said the crowds keep getting bigger for college football at the South Point sports book.

“The crowds have been unbelievable for colleges. When we start getting into conference play, the handle will go up 15 to 20 percent,” he said. “(Saturday) was a mediocre schedule at best, but we were still steady all day long with five or six people at the counter.

“College football is getting a lot of traction. The money coming across the counter is not that far behind the NFL.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.