CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In crunch time, seniors have to step up. That's the old adage in college sports.
That was missing for Arkansas in the second half of the Belk Bowl in a meltdown for the ages.
The Razorbacks blew a 24-0 halftime lead, handing Virginia Tech five turnovers that led to the 35-24 victory Thursday night. The Hokies needed only 18 minutes of the second-half clock to claim the lead. They had to cover only 30, 44 and 4 yards for the first three scores.
Tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, one of the best of the UA seniors, disappeared two days before the game with a shoplifting incident on what should have been the highlight of his senior year, a night of free stuff at the Belk flagship store.
With $450 to spend and most everything half price, Sprinkle tried to take a few items extra and was caught. He was suspended for the game by coach Bret Bielema.
Senior wide receiver Drew Morgan, perhaps the most reliable of the seniors, did a rare disappearing act in the second half, some of it because of the intense way he competes.
Morgan dropped a pass in the flats on the first play of the second half, then fumbled at the end of a 14-yard completion, fighting for extra yardage, his trademark. That set-up the first Tech touchdown.
The game may have turned on the next Arkansas play when Allen checked into a deep sideline route to Morgan. The Tech cornerback caught him inside the 5-yard line, with Morgan trying to extend the ball toward the pylon as he tumbled out of bounds near the 2-yard line. He lost the ball and it bounded through the end zone for a touchback.
In one of many strange twists on the night, the Hogs caught a break because of a slap to the face to start that play, a 15-yard penalty for a first down on the other end of the field. It was the last break in a bitter second half for Morgan, ejected for spitting with six minutes left.
The post-game covered the meltdown, exactly what Bielema called it. The fourth-year coach also apologized to fans, as did Allen, promising there were lessons learned.
“The second half was our melting point,” Bielema said, noting it wasn't just in the Belk Bowl.
The Hogs were outscored 56-0 in their last two second halves, covering losses to Tech and Missouri.
This one was different, insisted Allen. The Missouri loss was marked by Arkansas mistakes in the red zone. This time it was the offense making it tough on the defense.
“The offense put the defense in bad positions,” Allen said. “We had a chance to go up 31-7 and we didn't.
“But this won't define me and it won't define our team. I think we have a bunch of guys coming back next year and this feeling right now will drive us through offseason workouts, spring practice and summer workouts. You will see a bunch of hungry, angry players next year.”
What Bielema saw in the second half was a bunch of players lacking confidence. He said heads were down when he looked on the field.
“What I kept saying, I saw everyone with their heads down,” he said. “If you look down, you never see where you are going.”
Allen said he saw that “a little bit, too. When it got to 24-7, we got a little bit on edge. You have to make a play at that point and we had the big play, the pass to Drew. He did what he always does, fight for that extra yard. He's had a heckuva career and that's the way he plays, fighting for another yard.”
Bielema addressed the turnovers, mistakes and the second-half problems several times. He said he'd never seen destruction come so quickly.
“This is never fun,” he said. “It's a challenge to overcome it. We've got to understand that the fourth quarter is as important as the start.”
Ironically, it was the start that was emphasized in the offseason as the Hogs stumbled out of the gates in 2015. They opened 3-0 this year and had better starts in the first half of games. Ultimately, they didn't have a finishing gear.
“You have to respond to momentum swings and we had a chance with the pass play (to Morgan),” Bielema said. “For as long as I coach, you run the ball into the end zone. You don't reach the ball in the end zone. Get the plays that are there.”
It's been a bizarre 7-6 season. Allen said the highs and lows have been incredible all year.
“This year started well, but it didn't finish well,” Allen said. “We wanted to send all these seniors out on a high note. They have been through so much, especially some of the fifth-year guys.
“The first half, we had it. The second half we couldn't make that play to get the momentum on our side.”
After gaining 258 yards on 35 snaps in the first half, the Hogs lost their way in the face of a shifting, moving Tech front that included verbiage designed to simulate the UA snap count. It was something Bielema said was sent to the Big 12 officiating crew on tape before the game.
“They got it right a couple of times,” Bielema said of the penalties against Tech's defense. “I think we may have jumped twice in the first half. But in the second half, we couldn't get a snap off.”
Bielema said the offensive line “got jumpy” and lost its confidence in protections against a variety of Tech stunts and blitzes. He said the Tech verbal calls “had a huge impact in the second half.”
Allen said the Tech defensive linemen were yelling “move and go” as he went through his cadence.
“We jumped,” he said. “I'm pretty sure that's illegal.”
Bielema said some of it was legal, as explained by the officials, but not everything.
Either way, after completing 13 of 16 for 215 yards in the first half, Allen completed just 5 of 15 in the second half. Protection was solid in the first half, with no sacks. There were six sacks in the second half, one of the reasons the Hogs were minus 9 yards rushing after intermission.
“In the first half, we kept pressure off our quarterback,” Bielema said. “But in the second half, we didn't have a confident look and we didn't protect. When you are not confident, guys can go right by you in pass rush. You don't get the set. It's all over.”
The Hogs made plays on defense in the second half, but gave up plays in the second half. Tech quarterback Jerod Evans took advantage of a cushion on the outside for his wideouts for easy, short throws. And the linebackers began to miss tackles.
Senior middle linebacker Brooks Ellis did read one counter sweep well on the goal line for a lost yardage play, but was flagged for a horse collar. Dre Greenlaw returned at linebacker to make six tackles in limited action, but whiffed on a play in the red zone to setup a touchdown.
“We played a good first half, then a horrible second half,” Ellis said. “We couldn't overcome adversity. We've done this so many times.
“We came in at halftime and knew we had to look at it as if it was 0-0. We told ourselves that. It's what you have to do.”
Wide receiver Keon Hatcher said, “We know what we did the lat game, we let some guys come back on us when we had the game sewed up. At first, I thought we got this. Guys are going to respond, their minds are right. That just didn't happen.”
Bielema said it may have looked like the Hogs thought they had it won again.
“It's easy to say that,” he said. “I get it. But I went into the locker room to challenge our staff and our players, too. If ever a team should respond in a second half, this is that team.”
Bielema said the Hogs looked like a well-coached, fundamentally solid group in the first half.
“They played what they were taught and coached,” he said. “But I never saw the tide turn so quickly in all three phases in the second half.”
Bielema said he took “responsibility” and said it was “all on me.” He promised to take “inventory” in the next few days, a dead period in recruiting. That will cover personnel, staff, scheme and offseason plans.
As the last man in the interview room, Allen closed with some respectful tones for Sprinkle and Morgan.
“These are special players,” he said. “They are guys who stepped up for us as leaders and with plays on the field. What they did doesn't define them. They've been two senior leaders and done a lot of great things for us. They didn't cost us the game.”
Allen said he “loved” and “supported” Sprinkle and Morgan.
In the end, Allen said he was ready to take the role of a senior leader. Right now, he's trying to look for ways to make the Hogs into a second half team.
“There were a bunch of down moments in the second half of the season,” he said. “I wish they didn't happen. It's a learning experience for all of us, for me.”
Hatcher, a fifth-year senior, said there is leadership on the team to come out of the meltdown, not that he used that word. He played a terrific game, making some of the few plays in the second half.
“I think they're going to do well,” he said. “They have some leaders on this team. They have some guys coming back. I hope and pray they do well.
“They just have to do work and stop making the same mistakes that we keep making over and over again. When are you going to step up? When are you going to make it happen?”
Those were the haunting questions from the end of the Belk Bowl.