Our bad beat of the week is the under 44.5 in Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin. This one was an absolute heartbreaker, seeing as the two teams combined for 13 points in the first half. The under was also cruising through the third quarter. Wisconsin added a touchdown to raise the total to 20. Then the unthinkable happened in the fourth quarter. 

The two teams combined to score 33 points in the fourth quarter alone. If you would have told me these two combined for 33 points in the whole game, I still would have thought that was high. But in one quarter? Devastating. 

Notre Dame added two touchdowns early in the quarter to raise the total to 37. The Fighting Irish were up 24-13 when they got the ball off of a Graham Mertz (you’ll hear his name again) interception in Badger territory. Under bettors are starting to sweat, but not panicking yet. The Irish go three and out and kick a field goal to make it 27-13 with 3:20 left.

Now the sweat is starting to flow. Under bettors everywhere are thinking, “All Notre Dame needs to do is hold a struggling Wisconsin offense, get the ball back, and run out the clock.” Then the worst case scenario happens.

With 2:13 left, Mertz drops back and throws another pick. This time Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser takes it back 66 yards for a touchdown, hurdling tacklers along the way. There’s your over. If you were still watching, though, Notre Dame was about to twist the knife. 

Mertz throws yet another interception, this time taken to the house by Drew White. The under is shattered in the blink of an eye. 

The moral of the story is life is too short to bet the under.