Some dangerous beats will dwell with you without end, and who had Navy as a 10.5-point underdog towards Air Power will always remember how the Midshipmen inexplicably blew the backdoor cowl final Saturday.
After staying inside the quantity all sport, the Midshipmen threw a pick-six to go down 17-Zero with beneath 4 minutes on the clock. It appeared bleak for underdog backers, who now wanted Navy to go 78 yards down the sphere for its first rating of the sport.
In some way, the Midshipmen did simply that and obtained ultimately zone with 55 seconds to go. A backdoor cowl appeared imminent.
However then Navy head coach Brian Newberry did one thing that can hang-out Navy backers for a very long time.
He despatched the offense again on the sphere to go for 2, which made little or no sense with the Midshipmen down 17-6 and beneath a minute on the clock.
Inevitably, the conversion try failed and the euphoric feeling of a backdoor cowl rapidly was despair.
Oh properly.
Now that we’ve obtained that out of our system, we flip the web page to this week’s Ugly Underdog. And boy, this one ain’t fairly.
It’s been an actual powerful season for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Not solely are they 2-5 with their solely wins coming towards Akron (in time beyond regulation!) and Indiana State, however IU followers even have to deal with the truth that their former quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., is among the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy for the Washington Huskies this December.
And issues will probably get a lot worse earlier than they get higher for Indiana because it travels to Penn State as a 32.5-point underdog on Saturday afternoon.
As the percentages inform us, this sport will probably be a rout.
However there are causes to consider that the Hoosiers can keep inside this large unfold.
Off the highest, this can be a fairly powerful spot for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions had a large alternative to place themselves on the within observe for the Faculty Soccer Playoff with a win over Ohio State final weekend however got here up brief in Columbus.
Penn State isn’t essentially eradicated from the CFP image, however a variety of issues must break its means for the Nittany Lions to get into the dance.
A flat efficiency after a loss like that isn’t out of the query.
On the sphere, there’s additionally a fairly clear path to a canopy for Indiana.
Betting on Faculty Soccer?
The Hoosiers are fairly poor offensively — they rank 128th (out of 133 FBS groups) in yards per play — however they could not want to attain all that a lot to get us to the window.
Penn State’s power is an elite protection, however the offense does depart fairly a bit to be desired.
The Nittany Lions rank 92nd general in yards per play and their lack of explosiveness — they’re one of many least explosive offenses within the nation — could make it onerous to get the short scores wanted to run up a rating.
Moreover, Indiana’s one true power is its means to restrict explosive performs.
Penn State could not quit something on this contest, however it’s onerous to belief the Nittany Lions’ offense to attain sufficient factors to cowl this massive unfold.
The play: Indiana +32.5.