CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Arkansas played one stirring half of football Thursday evening at the Belk Bowl. And one stinker.
The Razorbacks' 24-0 halftime lead against No. 22 Virginia Tech set the table for a meltdown that put a frustrating cap on a 7-6 season.
Virginia Tech's 35-0 second-half surge produced the Hokies' largest comeback in their known records and the third-biggest comeback in a bowl game in the past 10 seasons.
Instead of taking their fourth upset of a ranked team and strong momentum into the offseason, the Razorbacks were left with the sting of surrendering their largest lead in known records. This came on the heels of a 28-24 loss in their regular-season finale at Missouri after leading 24-7 at the half.
According to ESPN, FBS teams who were trailing by 24 or more points at halftime had been 3-902 during the past 10 seasons before Virginia Tech's rally for a 35-24 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
Just as embarrassing as the second-half implosion for Coach Bret Bielema's team were uncharacteristic personnel mistakes, both before the game -- tight end Jeremy Sprinkle's arrest and citation on a shoplifting charge Tuesday -- and during it, when receiver Drew Morgan was ejected for a blatant personal foul, explained as spitting in an opponent's face by the Big 12 officiating crew to Bielema.
Morgan and Sprinkle were both apologetic in statements released by the university Friday.
"Everyone who knows me and has watched me play football my entire career knows that is not who I am, not what I am about, and not how I want to be perceived ... ever," Morgan said in his statement.
Sprinkle expressed remorse "for this unfortunate and completely avoidable occurrence."
"I have embarrassed myself, my team, and my parents, who raised me to be an upstanding man of high moral character," Sprinkle said in his statement. "In looking back at the events, I realize I have the sole power and control to avoid negative situations such as these."
Bielema said it was embarrassing to have a player ejected the way Morgan was, but said he did not think Morgan and Sprinkle would be defined by their mistakes in Charlotte.
In the larger picture, Bielema said the second-half collapse and the personnel issues the Razorbacks suffered while at the Belk Bowl would be scrutinized in the coming days.
"It's all my responsibility," he said. "I'm at a point in the recruiting cycle that we can take the time in the next week or so to really take inventory on everything: offense, defense, special teams, personnel, staff, what we're asking our guys to do, the out-of-season program and character building."
Bielema also delivered an apology to Arkansas fans.
"I will address ... everything from A to Z around the program as well," he said. "I am very, very disappointed. I apologize to the people that made the trip, the friends, the family, that we couldn't close this thing out, because I know it meant a lot to them.
"We had a few guys speak up at the end of my [postgame] talk in there about guys moving on, as well as guys coming back and what we need to do to move forward, because it's not all right to accept this."
The Razorbacks fizzed in the second half after building their lead by taking advantage of two Virginia Tech turnovers and racking up a 258-180 edge in total offense in the first half.
. Arkansas threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and punted four times on its eight second-half possessions.
"It's very clear when you take a look at what we've been able to do, is we do a lot of really good things for maybe three quarters and in a quarter we just lose our mind and can't close a game against good people," Bielema said.
The large swath of the predominantly maroon-and-orange-clad fans who had gone into the concourses and out of the wind during the middle part of the game, returned to their seats as Virginia Tech began taking control during Arkansas' third-quarter flop, which included three turnovers in the span of 11 offensive snaps.
"I've been trying to think of ways to put it in my head right now, and there's really no way to just put it in words what I'm thinking," Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen said. "It's a learning moment for me, for our team, for the guys coming back."
Bielema bemoaned the turnover frenzy in the second half.
"I think any game that we turn the ball over one or less times, our winning percentage is off the charts," he said. "If we have two or more, it's almost a guaranteed loss. Obviously, that happened."
Virginia Tech had one significant touchdown drive -- 76 yards -- in the second half. The Hokies' other four touchdown drives covered 87 total yards, all after turnovers.
"The offense at times would have a turnover and the ball would be on the 10-yard line, the 5-yard line, and that was kind of momentum swings for them," defensive end Deatrich Wise said.
"It's really disappointing," linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "It's embarrassing. I just really don't know what to say."
Sports on 12/31/2016