- Despite being around 54.5 to 55.5 on Thursday, the total closed around 52.5 to 53 points for the Nebraska/Illinois game.
- The final score was 30-22, but the Nebraska Cornhuskers kicker missed two extra points which could've made all the difference.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Illinois Fighting Illini were the first teams to kick off in the 2021 college football season. Naturally, it was also the first bad beat of the season for sports bettors.
The Bad Beat: OVER 52.5 Points
There were plenty of storylines heading into this game. Many asked if it was going to be the year in which Scott Frost would be able to turn the Nebraska Cornhuskers organization around or if Brent Bielema could start his Illinois Fighting Illini coaching career with a win. However, none of that mattered to bettors of the matchup.
Online sportsbooks opened the total around 55 points, but by the time of kick-off, it was down to 52.5 or 53 points. The first quarter ended with just two total points due to a safety but college football betting fans who sided with the OVER still had hope as the game went on.
Nebraska’s kicker, Connor Culp, missed an extra point early in the second quarter but the one that really hurt came later in the game. Nebraska scored with 2:41 remaining in the game to make the score 30-22, just a single point short of either hitting the OVER or at least a push, depending on the sportsbook, but Culp once again missed the extra point.
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The Result
After the final missed PAT, Illinois made Nebraska burn their time outs and prevented a Hail Mary touchdown to secure the 30-22 final score. Those who bet on the UNDER should be giving Culp their biggest thanks, while any OVER sports bettors are not as enthusiastic with his performance.
This is not the first time a kicker has been the deciding factor in an OVER/UNDER wager for football and it surely won’t be the last, but this sets up what could be a very entertaining year of bad beats for CFB.
Nick got involved with the world of sports at a young age and never turned his back on it. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Broadcast/Journalism. In his free time, you can catch him at the bottom of the leaderboards on any video game he’s playing.
