Don’t expect to see Eli Drinkwitz being presented with a Musial Award for the way he is guiding the Missouri Tigers at the end of football games thus far this season.
Nope, when the 50¶È»ÒÊÓƵ Sports Commission has its presentations in November to “recognize the year’s greatest moments of sportsmanship and honor those in sports who embody class and character,†the Mizzou football coach — and many of his college peers — won’t be recognized. At least not for how they conduct themselves in the waning moments of contests they have well in hand yet choose to further humiliate their opponents by running up the score.
That’s exactly what Drinkwitz has done in the Tigers’ first two games this season. But while the practice additionally embarrasses an already-conquered team, it appeases those who bet on Mizzou to cover the point spread. Points added in the final 2 minutes of both MU games have made the difference between those wagers winning and losing in contests Mizzou led by 49 and 31 points, respectively, before tacking on more with backup players on the field.
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And with a proposal to legalize sports betting in Missouri on the November ballot, the point spread issue is even more in focus now.
Drinkwitz indicated the late scoring pushes have been more about giving bench players he might have to count on later in the season some game experience than piling on points, recently telling reporters that his “take on it is two-fold.
“One, with the ability of the (transfer) portal to take top-tier talent from lower classes, lower divisions, I think you’re seeing some of that result. Some of the schools that in the past would have developed some of those players no longer have those guys. They’re playing up at different schools. And then I think the next thing you’re seeing is the need for us, as coaches, to see as many guys play as possible as long as possible.
“... We gotta have our guys play and we’ve got to get as many quality reps because that’s how you develop. I think you’re seeing guys who need to let their twos and threes (second- and third-line players) play — and play at a high level. You play to win the game, you play to score, you play to stop people, and you want to see them compete at the very best.â€
How they unfolded
The nuts-and-bolts of the late points parade:
On Saturday, the Tigers were a 34½-point favorite over Buffalo and led 31-0 when they got a first down at the Bulls’ 41-yard line with just under two minutes remaining.
Take a knee three times and mercifully wrap it up, right? Wrong.
After a run by Kewan Lacy gained 4 yards and took the clock down to 1:25 left, QB Drew Pyne was throwing and completed a pass to Marquis Johnson for 20 yards. By the time the ball next was snapped, just 1:16 was left.
Now run out the clock? Nope. Three runs — two with the carrier going out of bounds to stop the clock — moved the ball to the Buffalo 3, giving the Tigers a first down with 31 seconds to go.
Now MU can end the game more humanely by finally taking a knee. But the Tigers give the ball to Lacy again, who scores a TD to further demean the Bulls but cover the spread.
It’s a philosophy that isn’t unique to Mizzou, as many teams have been pouring it on late in blowouts.
MU caught the attention of ESPN’s “Bad Beats,†the lively segment Scott Van Pelt and sidekick “Stanford†Steve Coughlin do on “SportsCenter†that recaps some of the worst point spread beatdowns of the week.
They with Buffalo bettors being waylaid by MU’s last-minute onslaught, with Van Pelt saying “they’ll just take knees†after Mizzou gets a first down at the Bulls’ 41 with just over 2 minutes to go.
But “will they?†Van Pelt rhetorically asks.
“Anyone going to take a knee in college football this year?†Coughlin asks.
“Absolutely not,†Van Pelt replies.
After MU reaches the Buffalo 3 with 31 seconds and has a first down, Van Pelt sums up what every Bulls bettor is emphatically thinking: “You’ve proved your point. Take a knee. I beg of you!â€
But ....
“Hell no,†he says as Lacy scores. “... A bad beat is what that is.â€
In Mizzou’s opener, the Tigers were favored by 50 points on the closing line and led Murray State 48-0 with a little more than 6 minutes to go when they had the ball at midfield.
Instead of trying to grind out a few first downs and call it a night, MU went to a no-huddle attack and even though it had four consecutive running plays the Tigers were not using the full play clock. They even had Pyne passing on first down from the Murray State 8-yard line. A spate of penalties while Pyne still was throwing left them with fourth down at the 9 and instead of running the ball into the line to mercifully end the offensive onslaught, Drinkwitz sent out Blake Craig to attempt a 27-yard field goal. He made it with 1:59 to play.
Conversely, Murray State ran the ball on four of its six plays to end the game, making the rub-it-in field goal allow Mizzou to cover the point spread.
Mizzou is back in action Saturday, when it entertains Boston College at 11:45 a.m., and ranges from a 14½-15½-point favorite depending on the sportsbook.
Tough to survive
Well, that didn’t last long.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ upset loss at home to New England on Sunday eliminated more than a third of the field in the Circa Survivor contest, the high-profile winner-take-all completion at the Circa sportsbook chain in Nevada that requires contestants to pick a winning NFL team each week of the season in order to advance. Cincy also KO’d many entrants in private pools across the country.
The Circa event carried a $1,000 fee this year drew a record 14,206 entries — meaning the windfall to the champion is just over $14.2 million.
While it might seem easy on the surface to pick a winner in each of the 17 weeks of the regular season plus two additional mini periods (four games spread over Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday and three across Christmas Day and the next night), that’s a mighty task on its own. Then after factoring in the caveat that a team can be picked only once, it becomes evident that it’s an Empire State Building-type staircase climb to the top.
Cincinnati was the biggest favorite in Week 1, by 7½ points at kickoff, and lost 16-10. That knocked out 4,895 entries.
Many forecasters were predicting big things this season for the Atlanta Falcons, but they lost at home to Pittsburgh as a 4-point favorite. That bounced 431 more entrants out of the field. There were additional 155 losers spread across the rest of the schedule, plus 45 that failed to submit a selection thus automatically being ousted.
So when Week 2 began Thursday night, 4,896 entrants already were on the sideline. That’s 34.5% of the starting field.
Last year there were 9,267 entries and the contest finished in a four-way tie that was worth a little more than $2.3 million to each.
(Although Circa operates in Illinois, the contest was only available only via registering in person in Nevada. Picks then are submitted there, either personally or via a proxy service.)
Upcoming picks
We had a rough go with our selections last week, losing both for a net loss of five units, but are ready to bound back. Selections can range from one to five units and prices listed are the most favorable as of Friday afternoon among the three walk-in sportsbooks in the area — Argosy (casino in Alton), DraftKings (Casino Queen in East 50¶È»ÒÊÓƵ) and FanDuel (Fairmont Park in Collinsville):
- ALABAMA AT WISCONSIN, 11 a.m. Saturday: ’Bama has flexed its defensive muscle in the early going of the season, blanking Western Kentucky and holding South Florida to 16 points and 309 yards. It faces a foe here that failed to reach 30 points in its first two games, vs. comparative lightweights Western Michigan and South Dakota. Look for the Tide to clamp down here.Â
Wisconsin team total under 16½ points (Argosy) (1 unit)
COLTS AT PACKERS, noon Saturday: Indianapolis gave up 213 rushing yards last week to Houston, the most real estate on the ground allowed in the league all of opening weekend. That bodes well for Packers RB Josh Jacobs, as he ran for 84 yards against the Eagles last weekend and his team figures to concentrate on its ground game this week what with backup QB Malik Willis taking over for injured front-liner Jordan Love.
Josh Jacobs over 62½ rushing yards (FanDuel) (3 units)