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Minnesota bettors suffered a bad beat in the Golden Gophers’ bowl matchup against Syracuse. A series of unfortunate events led to a missed cover opportunity, and it has backers in shambles.
The Gophers entered the game as 10.5-point favorites. Much of that came due to the team’s boasting star rusher Mo Ibrahim, who ran for nearly 1,600 yards this season.
Minnesota also had a majority of their star players suiting up while the Orange saw leading rusher Sean Tucker opt out of the contest. Syracuse was also dealing with the losses of both their offensive and defensive coordinators.
For that reason, many bettors hopped on the Minnesota train and hoped for the best. After appearing to have a sure winner, though, those Golden Gopher supporters were hit with a late game collapse.
Late in action, Minnesota led 28-13. Syracuse had the ball attempting to cut the lead to one possession, but seemingly turned the ball over. The defense returned that fumble 64 yards to ice the game.
Not so fast, my friend.
After a lengthy review, it was determined that Minnesota had 12 players on the field, giving the Orange another chance to score.
Minnesota scooped up a fumble and returned it 64 yards to nearly ice the game, but they had 12 men on the field so it’s coming back. Cuse down 28-13 with 3:15 to play. 👀
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 29, 2022
Things soon got worse for Minnesota bettors in this awfully bad beat.
After holding the Syracuse offense in check on first-, second-, and third-and-goal, the Orange got one final chance to stay in the game. On the fourth-down play, quarterback Garrett Shrader scrambled around in the backfield for what seemed like an eternity before taking off and scampering for an eight-yard score.
28-20. Cover blown.
The Golden Gophers would run out the final few minutes of regulation, and to twist the knife even further, a Syracuse unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Minnesota a first down on fourth-and-two with the team on the cusp of field goal range.
Fans on social media were quick to comment on the outcome, posting reactions online. One fan wrote, “Minnesota -10.5, I’m sick,” while another said, “Get ready to put Minnesota –10.5 on bad beats.”
The collapse for Minnesota is the second we’ve seen over the last two days of bowl action. Arkansas also blew a huge lead against Kansas in the Liberty Bowl before holding on for a two-point overtime win. On a 2.5-point spread, of course.
We’re sure to see plenty more of these results over the course of an unpredictable bowl season. Hopefully, you’ll be on the winning side.