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The Illinois Fighting Illini beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers 30-22 in what is a monumental win for Bret Bielema in his first season in Champaign. The loss puts Huskers coach Scott Frost on the hot seat, but enough of the on-field implications of the result. It’s bad beat season once again courtesy of college kickers.
The total was 52½. #BadBeats are back, baby!@notthefakeSVP pic.twitter.com/RYX5aBbBLl
— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) August 28, 2021
The DraftKings Sportsbook over/under at kickoff was also 52.5.
College kickers are notorious for missing easy kicks, especially in pressure situations. Extra points are usually safe, but Connor Culp missed TWO in Saturday’s loss to Illinois. For bettors who took the over, these are the losses that really sting.
Culp wasn’t the first kicker in history affecting the over/under and he certainly will not be the last. He just happened to be the first of this college football season in a nationally televised game for a program struggling to escape its own expectations, a perfect trifecta for a bad beat.