Bad beat: Stanford kicks meaningless 61-yard field goal as time expires vs. Cal to flip the total

Anyone with a ticket on over 46.5 total points in Cal’s win over Stanford on Saturday got a miracle win.

Stanford had the ball and trailed 27-17 in the final seconds. With two-possession deficit impossible to overcome, Stanford coach David Shaw sent out kicker Josh Karty for a 61-yard field goal attempt to try to make the score more respectable.

Karty drilled the career-long field goal to cut the final margin to seven. And made those with the over incredibly happy as the point total ended up at 47.

We don’t need to tell you that Karty’s kick is a brutal beat for under bettors. Heck, it’s probably a worse beat than if Stanford had completed a Hail Mary TD pass with no time remaining. We’re used to crazy TDs to affect the total at the end of games. But field goals that don’t matter to the outcome of the game? Those are exceptionally rare.

Karty’s kick also capped a pretty pitiful drive for Stanford in the final minute of the game. The Cardinal got the ball back after a game-sealing TD run by Jaydn Ott with 54 seconds left. And it took Stanford eight plays to go 37 yards before Karty’s field goal.

The win pushed Cal to 4-7 before it faces UCLA in the final week of the season, while Stanford is 3-8 before it plays BYU to end the season.