Bad beat: Overtime causes Army-Navy to go over the total for the first time since 2005
Army and Navy's annual meeting is one of college football's best traditions and rivalries. They first met in 1890 and have met in every year since 1930. For over a decade, it has served as the bridge between conference championship weekend and bowl season.
One thing the rivalry never featured was an overtime game. That changed on Saturday, and it resulted in a bad beat for anyone who bet the game to go under 32.5 points.
Under was extremely popular bet
Much like Army and Navy meeting is an annual tradition, in recent years, betting the under in the Army-Navy game has become a tradition of its own. Entering Saturday, the under had hit in 16 consecutive seasons.
The closing total at BetMGM was 32.5 points. It was the second lowest total of the college football season behind only the Iowa-Minnesota game from earlier in the year. Despite the extremely low total, 60% of bets were on the under.
Two rivals meeting who both run the triple-option lends itself to a quick moving, low scoring game. It's no surprise to see the under as a popular bet. Once you factor in the recent history and the streak, bettors were willing to ride the train until the wheels fell off.
The under looked great on Saturday
Saturday's meeting between Army and Navy started off like a lot of people expected. The first quarter finished scoreless. Eight of the first nine possessions of the game finished with a punt. In fact, the only touchdown of the first half came off a blocked punt. Still, the score was just 7-3 in favor of Army at halftime and under bettors were feeling good.
After three more punts to open the second half, Navy took a 10-7 lead with a 75-yard touchdown run from Anton Hall Jr. After that touchdown, we saw six more punts and suddenly the clock was under three minutes. This looked like a rocking-chair under game.
However, with the game on the line, Army went on a drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty. With 1:53 left, the drive fizzled out and Quinn Maretzki knocked through a 37-yard field goal to tie the game for Army.
Though there was just 20 points scored in the game, suddenly, we were looking at overtime. And well, they don't call it "undertime."
Still, these teams just played 60 minutes and managed just two touchdowns all game. What are the chances they would both score a touchdown on their overtime possession to put the game over the total?
Army got the ball first in overtime, and on the first play of the extra period, Markel Johnson broke through for a 25-yard house call. Under bettors needed Army to keep Navy out of the end-zone on their ensuing possession. That dream didn't last long.
On Navy's first play, Xavier Arline completed his first pass of the game, finding a wide open Maquel Haywood for the touchdown. Two plays in overtime resulted in two touchdowns. Suddenly, for the first time in 17 years, the over had hit in Army-Navy.
After a Navy fumble at the goal line, Army kicked a game-winning field goal as Maretzki sent the Black Knights home a winner. However, the damage was done before then. Under bettors probably had no clue how they lost their bet. College football overtime is not the friend of the under bettor, and we got our latest example on Saturday.
