Simply looking at the final score to analyze the after-effects of a game misses the whole point of handicapping for purposes of football betting.

There’s obviously a lot more to the game than just the score, especially when you’re examining the whys and wherefores of that result, and at the same time trying to get a gauge on what might happen in the next game.

It is for this reason that I study every game story and box score I can.

One of the things you want to look for is a team that is scoring BACKDOOR TOUCHDOWNS. This is particularly applicable in college football betting. In the NFL, it’s not often that you would have a line that went over a couple of touchdowns, but in college, you can easily see a betting line between and “have” and a “have-not” that can be 35 points or more.

Teams that are catching a lot of points and fall way behind in a game, then score some garbage touchdowns late to bring themselves within the number are said to be covering through the “backdoor.”

As you can imagine, this can make end results somewhat deceiving. So backdoor touchdowns are, in effect, meaningless scores that generally make a game look much closer than it really is. There are going to be times when a team that may be a big betting favorite lets up after the outcome has more or less been decided.

It is at that point, when perhaps third-team players are in the game, that the outclassed opponent, which may still be using its first-teamers, come up with a score or two to try and make it more respectable. It might be good for morale, and if it’s a smaller program, good for recruiting.

Sometimes this makes a difference in the football point spread; sometimes it doesn’t.

Either way, those touchdowns really don’t make much of a difference to the winning team, unless it is extremely poll-conscious (and perhaps there’s a little less of that with the institution of the BCS). When analyzing a game, look for the meaningful points scored; that is, the points scored while the outcome is still somewhat in doubt.

And look for teams who continue to put out an effort after the outcome is decided – a team like that might wind up being a profitable proposition as a big football betting underdog.

Sometimes there is a clear distinction to be drawn between a program that is on the way up and one that is on the way down. Some teams are newcomers to Division I football otherwise known as the FBS), or have brought in a new coach with high hopes, but who recognizes that there is some rebuilding that has to be done.

Scoring touchdowns and making games look competitive against bigger, more well-established programs can turn into a “moral victory” for these schools, and should be factored into your football betting scenario if possible.

Then there are the programs languishing in mediocrity, for which there is little hope for the present or the future, and these are the teams that might roll over, especially when they are on the road. Know the difference between these kinds of programs.

The personality of the respective coaches may also be something to take into account in football wagering. Some are engaged in morale building, and so they’re looking for anything positive their team can do. They’ll play till the end.

On the other sideline, there are those coaches who have a tendency to run up the score – usually because they figure the higher the margin of victory, the greater the impression they’ll create with people who vote in the polls. It may be tougher for a team to score backdoor touchdowns against coaches like that. Some are more “gentlemanly” and won’t try to score gratuitously. Those coaches might let up on defense too.

You may want to classify coaches in that regard, so you have a better read on whether backdoor touchdowns can potentially be a factor in a game for football betting purposes.

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