Duke disaster leads to Cincinnati covering spread in all-time bad beat

We here at LBS don’t pretend like any of you were actually watching the BELK BOWL — whatever the hell that is — because you actually care about Duke or Cincinnati football. We know the real reason anyone watched the game was for the same reason — they had something riding on it. And those who had a little dough on Duke had to endure one of the worst bad beats of the football season.

As far as covers went, Duke was a lock. Not only did they start off the game up 16-0, but the game was tied at 34 with 1:32 left. Duke was getting either 9 or 9.5 points in most sportsbooks when the line closed. They were a lock. Game over, Duke covers.

That was until some incredibly bad luck struck.

Duke was driving and had the ball second-and-goal at the Cincinnati five. Not only were they going to cover, but they were about to win the game outright. That’s when Duke running back Josh Snead lost a fumble to give Cincinnati the ball at the six. Four plays later, Cincinnati threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to make it 41-34.

Even though Duke was suddenly trailing, at least they were still covering. Not so fast, my friends!

Duke completed a pass and got a penalty, so they had the ball at the Cincinnati 40 following the touchdown. They still had a shot to tie the game. That’s when Cincinnati’s defense clobbered quarterback Sean Renfree, whose pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Duke went from driving for the win to losing 48-34 in one minute and 18 seconds. That, my friends, is an all-time bad beat.