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College football bad beat: TCU throws TD as time expires, crushing Iowa State backers

A 31-yard touchdown pass by TCU’s Max Duggan as time expired in his team’s 37-34 loss to Iowa State may not have affected the outcome of the game, but it dramatically affected the pockets of bettors.

The point spread in the game closed at Iowa State -3.5 on BetMGM, so if you bet on the Cyclones to cover the spread at that number, that touchdown — which shrunk ISU’s lead from nine to three — was an absolutely brutal turn of events.

That is just a horrific backdoor cover if you were on ISU -3.5. Absolutely horrific.

And the drama did not end there. The spread was Iowa State -2.5 throughout the week, so if TCU decided to kick the extra point you were in for a world of hurt if you wagered on ISU earlier in the week. Instead, TCU coach Gary Patterson decided that there was no point in sending his kicker out there since it would not affect the game’s outcome.

If you had the Cyclones at -2.5, you were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. If you were on TCU +2.5, well, you know the rest. Just brutal.

Some crazy plays led up to that finish

There were a few ridiculous moments that led up to all of that, too. Iowa State led for pretty much the entire game, but a missed extra point by the usually reliable Connor Assalley loomed late. Because of that miss, every time TCU scored, it would cut the lead to two instead of three.

This absurd miscue by Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy kept TCU within striking distance, too.

And because of the missed extra point, ISU’s lead was 16-14, not 17-14.

Late in the fourth quarter, ISU’s lead was 30-28 when it punted the ball back to TCU with 4:01 to play. On the next play, TCU’s Max Duggan was intercepted on a ball that deflected off his receiver’s hands and to ISU linebacker Mike Rose, who made a diving effort for the interception.

Three plays later, Breece Hall broke off a 32-yard touchdown run to extend Iowa State’s lead to 37-28 with 2:54 remaining.

From there, the only drama that remained involved the point spread. TCU’s drive culminated with a third-and-24 from the ISU 31-yard line. Duggan lobbed one up for Blair Conwright, and his first-career touchdown catch will be one that’s remembered for some for quite a while.

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