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Arland Bruce IV was one of a number of University of Iowa athletes involved in a gambling scandal in Iowa City. The wide receiver was found to have placed multiple bets on Hawkeyes games in which he played.
News recently broke about one of those bets in particular, which ended up losing. He, ironically, scored the touchdown that pushed the score over the total.
Iowa faced off against Northwestern in 2022 midway through the season. The Hawkeyes entered that matchup at 3-4 on the year while the Wildcats came in at 1-6.
While the outcome likely didn’t mean much to most outside of the Big Ten, it turns out that Bruce had some money riding on the action.
The wideout reportedly placed a wager on the under, which sat at just 37 points.
According to a criminal complaint, current Oklahoma State WR Arland Bruce IV wagered on 19 football games.
He played wagers on the “under total points” for Iowa’s game against Northwestern on October 29th, 2022 and Kentucky on December 31st, 2022.
— Jack Lido (@JackLido) August 10, 2023
It’s not a surprising play given how atrocious the Iowa offense was in 2022. Unfortunately for Bruce, it didn’t hit, which was partly his doing.
The pass catcher hauled in a pair of receptions for 19 yards while also toting the rock for 27 yards on the ground. With the Hawkeyes leading 26-7 late in the fourth quarter, Bruce took a jet sweep and raced 23 yards for a score.
The touchdown pushed the game total to 40 points, three points over the line.
He didn’t appear to be too worried about the bet on the handoff as he fought off a pair of Northwestern defenders, staying in bounds to cross the goal line.
Iowa would go on to win 33-13 with the Wildcats tacking on a touchdown on the game’s final play, so maybe it’s a moot point. Still, the fact that he was responsible for the bet-busting touchdown is somewhat comical.
Jack Lido of KCRG-TV9 says that Bruce, who’s now at Oklahoma State, wagered on 19 football games in total. He’s one of a number of Iowa and Iowa State players named in the criminal complaint.