Alabama completely controlled the Rose Bowl but a backdoor cover from Notre Dame gave bettors an all-time bad beat in the College Football Playoff.
The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the Rose Bowl, the first semifinal matchup of the College Football Playoff, as the biggest favorite in the history of the postseason format. Nick Saban’s team was a 19.5-point favorite coming into Friday afternoon’s game at AT&T Stadium. And they lived up to it from the start.
Behind explosive plays from running back Najee Harris and wide receiver DeVonta Smith, they jumped out to a 14-0 lead and went into halftime up 21-7. The second half was just more of the same as Smith’s third touchdown of the game and Will Reichard‘s 41-yard field goal not only had the outcome beyond question but seemingly had the cover locked up.
Then bettors around the country filled the air with four-letter words thanks to Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book in the waning moments of the game. Because with the cover seemingly locked up, disaster struck.
Bettors will be cursing Ian Book, Notre Dame for the bad beat vs. Alabama
Despite having no realistic chance of even making the final outcome of the Rose Bowl respectable, Book looked for one last moment to save face for the Fighting Irish. He orchestrated a four-minute drive that culminated with a one-yard touchdown run from the quarterback.
And with that, the cover went out the window.
This is an all-time bad beat. Not only is a meaningless backdoor cover always exceptionally hard to swallow at any point, it stings even worse when it’s on a stage like the College Football Playoff. And it’s made even worse by the fact that Alabama looked every bit like a 19.5-point favorite for the entirety of the game with how they dominated but a forgettable touchdown cost the cover.
Suffice it to say that there are probably more than a few people joining the Notre Dame hate-train after this bad beat.
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