FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' second-half collapse in its 28-24 loss at Missouri is more than three weeks old, but it might as well have been yesterday for Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen.
"It'll linger with me for a while," Allen said this week. "I mean, it's always in the back of your mind. I was pretty mad for about two or three weeks, like it was a taste in your mouth and you just couldn't get it away. It's always there."
The Razorbacks squandered a 24-7 halftime lead in the loss to their permanent cross-division rival Missouri, which finished with a 4-8 record, worst in the SEC. The Tigers are one of two SEC teams not playing in a bowl game.
While Arkansas won SEC games as an underdog against Ole Miss, Florida and Mississippi State, the Razorbacks lost to the Tigers in the only conference game in which they were the favorite.
"I don't think we played with the same gusto that we played with in the first half," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "As coaches, we have got to do a better job to close those things out. I've never been involved in a game my time here, or really in my coaching career, where there was such a difference in two halves in performance. I have been in games where maybe we didn't start off the right way or end it the right way, but never one where you went into the locker room at halftime and felt you were clicking in all phases and then to come out and lay the clunker we did in the second half was very disappointing."
The loss dinged the Razorbacks on several fronts. It prevented Arkansas (7-5 overall, 3-5 SEC) from improving on its regular-season record for a third-consecutive year under Bielema. It kept the Hogs from having at least a .500 record in league play for a second consecutive season, and it kept them from having a winning record in SEC road games for a second year in a row.
The loss also kept Arkansas out of the discussion for the Sugar, Citrus or Outback bowls, which are higher up in the pecking order than the Belk Bowl. Arkansas will take on Virginia Tech (9-4), the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division champion, in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 29.
The Razorbacks are dealing with the upset loss in Columbia, Mo., in different fashions.
In his first media interview since the game, offensive coordinator Dan Enos was asked last week about being shut out in the second half by the Tigers.
"I forgot all about that game," Enos said, before continuing. "We didn't execute. In the first half, we executed. The second half we didn't."
Enos said he brought the entire offense together and showed them 13 plays that affected the outcome of the game.
"We had many opportunities to score probably three or four more touchdowns in the second half," Enos said. "A back missed a cut with a huge hole, and it was going to be a touchdown. We've got a guy open on a double-move shake for a touchdown, and we don't pick up the corner blitz.
"They had run about 25 corner blitzes during the game, and we called the protection to pick up the corner blitz ... so we couldn't throw that on time. We just got out of sync. It was a little bit of everybody, but it was very frustrating because we had plenty of opportunities to score 14, 21 more points in the second half."
Arkansas delivered a statistical whipping against the Tigers, winning 503-399 in total offense, 155-131 in rushing, 348-268 in passing, 27-15 in first downs and 40:22-19:38 in time of possession.
Offensive failures in the red zone, a key special teams error and getting beaten over the top on defense hounded Arkansas in the second half.
Arkansas came up empty on three trips inside the Missouri 10-yard line in the second half.
Allen threw an interception on third and goal from the Missouri 3 on Arkansas' first possession of the second half. After the Razorbacks reached second and goal from the 1 in the fourth quarter, they were pushed back on two consecutive plays before Allen was picked off again in the end zone on fourth down from the 5.
Arkansas overcame a holding penalty on its final drive to reach the Missouri 9, but another holding call pushed them back and the Tigers held them on downs.
On special teams, the Razorbacks allowed Missouri to convert a fourth-and-7 fake punt from the Tigers' 7 late in the third quarter. On the final play of the quarter, with Missouri facing fourth and 1 at its own 28, nose guard Bijhon Jackson touched the football as the Tigers tried to draw Arkansas offsides.
Missouri converted on third and 11 and third and 16 on its first series of the third quarter, leading to Nate Strong's 2-yard touchdown run. Before the half was over, the Tigers had completed passes covering 48, 18, 67 and 49 yards.
"I think they were below what their numbers were for the season, but they hit too many big plays against us," Arkansas defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads said. "I think the receivers did some things to gain an advantage -- I'll just say that -- on a couple of those throws that hurt us, which I don't think is legal in my personal opinion. But nonetheless it happened."
The Arkansas coaches immersed themselves in recruiting and then in bowl preparation to move on from the Missouri game. Many of the players have as well.
"I have completely forgotten about the Missouri game," senior receiver Drew Morgan said. "I have put that in the past. It took a while to get over, but I am over it. I'm excited about Virginia Tech and this Belk Bowl opportunity."
However, Allen would like to remind his teammates that the way the Razorbacks lost to Missouri can serve as motivation.
"Hopefully it kind of p****s a bunch of other players off and it lights a fire under them, just so it won't happen again," Allen said.
Sports on 12/18/2016