If you had money on Penn State football to cover the spread against Villanova, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

After an uninspiring effort early, the Nittany Lions turned on the jets and charged out to a 52-0 lead following a Jahmir Joseph pick-six in the fourth quarter. With the Villanova offense stunted all day, it looked like Penn State would cover the pregame spread of 48.5 points.

Alas, on a miraculous play at the goal line on fourth down as time expired, Brandon Binkowski did his best Odell Beckham Jr. impression, breaking the shutout on the final play of the game and covering the spread for Villanova.

Penn State was a 48.5-point favorite over Villanova… #BadBeat pic.twitter.com/sEUOVVA1AL

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2025

It’s the most brutal spread bad beat imaginable, but it’s not the first time that people who made a bet on a Penn State football game got screwed. With over 20 years of data from Covers.com, we’ve compiled some of the worst spreads and over/under bad beats that we’ve seen in Penn State games.

August 30, 2025, vs. Nevada: Penn State -42.5

Our first example also happened this season. In the 2025 season opener, Penn State was able to run up the score despite many drives stalling in field goal range, opening up a 46-3 lead on Ethan Grunkemeyer’s first career touchdown with 7:37 to go.

With the clock winding down in the final two minutes, Cam Wallace was stuffed on a 4th-and-2 at midfield to turn it over on downs. In the next 89 seconds, Nevada would go 50 yards, converting a fourth down along the way and drawing a critical pass interference. With just 25 seconds left, Marcus Bellon hooked up with AJ Bianco to cover the spread. Penn State would only win 46-11.

November 30, 2024, vs. Maryland: Under 50.5 points

The infamous “LTFI” game, Penn State got an early scare on a Nick Singleton fumble and quick score by the Terrapins to fall behind 7-0, but they quickly took control of the game, en route to an easy win that clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship for the first time in eight years.

While the Nittany Lions were cruising to cover the 26.5-point spread, their last drive of the game on Senior Day had a chance to bust the bets of those who picked the frigid, sleepy Thanksgiving weekend game to go under 50.5 points.

With 1:15 to go in a 38-7 game, Maryland quarterback MJ Morris had a pass deflected into the hands of Dejuan Lane, which he returned 54 yards to set up the Penn State offense inside the Maryland 15. It looked like they were content to run the clock out, but on fourth down in the final seconds, Beau Pribula uncorked a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tyseer Denmark as time expired. With no extra point as a result, the game finished with 51 points.

After the game, Maryland coach Mike Locksley accused James Franklin of running up the score late, to which Franklin said that his job is to put the backups in the game, saying that “those guys deserve to play football.” Bettors across the country probably shared Locksley’s frustrations.

2023 Rose Bowl vs. Utah: Under 51 points

The Rose Bowl at the end of the 2022 season was a glorious time for Nittany Lions fans, as the program had fully rebounded after its dreadful 2020-21 seasons. Sean Clifford got to ride into the sunset after a tenure with many ups and downs, and fans were able to enjoy a victory at the Grandaddy Of Them All after the heartbreak that occurred in Pasadena in 2016.

Yet, if you bet the under for this game, you got last-second heartbreak. Utah quarterback Cam Rising had left the game with a serious knee injury in the third quarter, and their offense stagnated under Bryson Barnes while the Nittany Lions pulled away. Ultimately, it was 35-14 Penn State in the final minutes.

But, as most bad beats go, the Penn State backups would give up a late score, as Barnes completed a five-yard pass to Jaylen Dixon with 25 seconds left to get the Utes to within 14 and cash the over. While not as brutal as the Villanova or Maryland bad beats, it was still a pretty brutal way to lose a bet.

October 29, 2022, vs. Ohio State: Ohio State -16.5

Here, we get a reverse bad beat. After Penn State got dominated and shoved into a locker in the Big House earlier in the month against Michigan, they were heavy underdogs at home against Ohio State on Big Noon Kickoff.

If you bet on the Buckeyes to win by three scores, you were likely in a flux of emotions throughout the day. Ohio State jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Nittany Lions rallied to lead at halftime thanks to some early, sharp play by Clifford. Early in the fourth, Penn State even held a 21-16 lead. At this point, covering looked impossible. That was, until, Ohio State went into hyperdrive.

70 seconds after taking the lead, Penn State was suddenly down by nine after a long touchdown run by TreVeyon Henderson, a Clifford interception, and a C.J. Stroud touchdown pass. Further dominance from the visitor’s offense and a total takeover by J.T. Tuimoloau saw the lead balloon to 20 points. All of a sudden, the spread was about to be covered.

Not so fast. Despite a shellshocked crowd experiencing the biggest single-quarter meltdown in recent memory, the offense broke a 28-3 Buckeyes run with 1:12 to go, with Clifford throwing a touchdown pass to Kaytron Allen. Still, the mayhem of the last ten minutes probably caused bettors to lose their minds.

October 24, 2020, at Indiana: Under 62

The last example of the James Franklin era was brutal, as the over cashed in the most ridiculous fashion imaginable. We finally got football in 2020 after the Big Ten initially cancelled the season due to COVID-19. Despite losing Journey Brown and Micah Parsons for the year in the lead-up, there was optimism heading into Bloomington in late October.

The score was 21-20 Nittany Lions with two minutes left in the game. Penn State had the ball and was willing to run out the clock. Indiana had just one timeout, and with 1:40 left, the Hoosiers were going to let Devyn Ford score on a handoff up the middle. If Ford just gave himself up inside the five-yard line, Penn State would’ve run out the clock and won. Instead, he realized too late and stepped into the end zone by accident.

We all know the story from there. Indiana rallied to tie the game with a late touchdown and two-point conversion, forcing overtime. The over cashed on a Parker Washington touchdown, but the game ended controversially on a successful two-point conversion by Michael Penix Jr.

I don’t care what anyone says. Penix was short.

September 23, 2006, @ Ohio State: Penn State +16.5

I wanted to keep this recent, as the rise of sports betting has only come up in the last half-decade. That said, for any poor soul who might’ve put money on the Nittany Lions to cover at the Shoe in September 2006, I’m so sorry.

Joe Paterno’s squad was heavily overmatched by the Buckeyes that year, but they were staying within striking distance of the No. 1 team in the country. Despite a mediocre game by Anthony Morrelli at quarterback, it was a one-possession game in the fourth quarter. Penn State had the ball with less than three minutes to go, but Morrelli threw a pick-six, which Malcolm Jenkins returned 62 yards to likely put the game on ice.

But Penn State didn’t stop trying. Morrelli once again got the Nittany Lions back to midfield with 1:19 to go in a 21-6 game, but he threw his third interception of the night to Antonio Smith, who subsequently returned it for a 55-yard pick-six.

Two pick-sixes in the final three minutes. Penn State went from down eight to down 22 in the blink of an eye as Ohio State covered at the very end without their offense touching the field.