Wolverines’ taunting drives stake through bettors’ hearts

When Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford scored his third touchdown of the game with 28 seconds left Saturday to punctuate a 35-11 rout of rival Michigan, it was a clear case of the Spartans running up the score.

“It just felt like we needed to put a stake in them at that point,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.

The comment was a reference to Wolverines players planting a stake on the Spartan Stadium turf after running on the field before the opening kickoff. Michigan State’s coaches and players felt slighted and exacted their revenge by tacking on another TD when they could’ve run out the clock.

“Throwing the stake down in our backyard out here and coming out there like they’re all that,” Dantonio said. “That got shoved up … It got shoved in the last minute and a half.”

The late score also drove a stake through the wallets of many Michigan backers, as well as any middle players. Depending on when they placed their wager — the Wolverines were getting between 16½ points and 17½ points on Saturday — bettors had to like their chances to cash a winning ticket or at least salvage a push when De’Veon Smith scored a TD with 3:40 left and Devin Gardner hit Jake Butt for a two-point conversion pass to make it 28-11.

But a few minutes later, the only ones holding winning tickets were Spartans backers.

“Michigan is just a complete joke right now,” Westgate Las Vegas sports book manager Ed Salmons said.

No. 8 Michigan State improved to 7-1 heading into its Nov. 8 showdown against No. 13 Ohio State (6-1), which won but didn’t cover in a 31-24 double-overtime victory at Penn State.

The Nittany Lions, getting 14½ points, delivered a big win for the books against the Buckeyes.

“That’s probably our biggest decision tonight. All the money is on Ohio State,” Salmons said before the game.

Salmons isn’t impressed with the Big Ten, but when the College Football Playoff Selection Committee announces its first top 25 rankings on Tuesday, he expects them to be weighted toward the conference.

“I would expect them to set this thing up where, whoever wins that Michigan State-Ohio State game, and wins the rest of their games, they’ll put them in that final four game,” he said. “Just because people don’t look at strength of schedule, they just look at rankings and the scores.

“The Big Ten is just abysmal. Minnesota is 6-2. If you put Minnesota in the (Southeastern Conference), they’d probably be lucky to win three games. There are so many bad teams in the Big Ten. It’s a running joke.”

Salmons isn’t high on the Spartans or Buckeyes, either.

“Michigan State is killing every team they play every week. The one time they step out of conference against Oregon, they got run over and gave up (46) points,” he said. “But I would be stunned if the people they have doing this stuff would penalize them for being in the Big Ten. I expect them to reward them.

“It was so much better with the BCS computers. A computer just knows what you put into it. A human tries to outthink themselves. I’d take a computer over a human any day.”

No. 24 Louisiana State dealt No. 3 Ole Miss (7-1) its first loss, 10-7, pulling an upright upset with a late TD as a 3½-point home underdog. Salmons said he won’t be surprised if the winner of the SEC Championship Game will be chosen for the four-team playoff while the loser — perhaps a two-loss Crimson Tide team — will be bypassed in favor of the Big Ten champion.

“You’re gonna tell me they’re not better than the Big Ten?” he said. “There are so many good teams in the SEC, it’s just crazy. You can take the worst team from the SEC West and put them in the Big Ten and they could absolutely contend for the Big Ten championship.”

Salmons doesn’t think No. 2 Florida State deserves to be chosen for the playoff, either, but expects it will be. He also likes No. 6 Oregon to make it if it wins out.

A playoff sleeper could be No. 10 Texas Christian, which exploded for 10 TDs in an 82-27 rout of Texas Tech.

“If TCU finishes with one loss, I think they deserve to go to the big game,” Salmons said before the Horned Frogs put up 82 points.

“But I don’t know if people will see it that way because they don’t have the national appeal of other teams.”

As for those who believe a team like No. 23 Marshall (8-0) deserves a shot in the playoff if it stays undefeated, it’s not going to happen — not even after Conference USA hired a public relations firm to help its case.

“That’s such a joke,” Salmons said. “If they want to be taken seriously, play someone out of conference that’s not just a punching bag.”

The Thundering Herd trailed Florida Atlantic 16-14 at halftime before pulling away for a 35-16 win, but they didn’t cover the 28-point spread.

For the record, Salmons isn’t entirely against the four-team playoff.

“I think they’re on the right path, at least,” he said. “They started the playoff with four. With all the voting, people will complain and it will go to eight. And then it will go from eight to 16 and we’ll have a real playoff.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.