COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Faurot Field doesn't have a track around it anymore, but Missouri's receivers were off the races Friday against Arkansas' defensive backs.
"Give those guys credit," Razorbacks free safety Josh Liddell said. "Those guys can run and their quarterback has a live arm.
"They connected on some big plays that were huge for them."
Missouri sophomore quarterback Drew Lock connected on three passes in the second half for a combined 149 yards leading to three touchdowns that carried the Tigers to a 28-24 victory over the Razorbacks.
"They just made more plays than we did in the second half," Liddell said. "They came out with a lot of energy.
"They hit some deep balls and it worked for them."
Lock hit D'Jon Moore for a 48-yard gain on a third-and-11 play to give the Tigers a first down at the Arkansas 10 and set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Nate Strong on the Tigers' opening drive of the third quarter that cut Arkansas' lead to 24-14.
Johnathan Johnson hauled in a 67-yard touchdown pass on first down from Lock on Missouri's next possession to make it 24-21.
The Tigers made it three consecutive possessions with a touchdown when Strong scored on a 1-yard run to put Missouri ahead 28-24 with 12:42 left in the third quarter after Lock's 49-yard pass to Moore on a third-and-5 play from the Tigers' 38.
"Defensively, obviously, big pass plays hit us a little bit," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said.
Bielema paused.
"They hit us big," he added.
Missouri's passing numbers would have been bigger, but Dimetrious Mason and Johnson each dropped what would have been touchdown passes.
"They dropped some passes," Liddell said. "But they made some great catches, too.
"When you're faced with adversity, you've got to respond in a positive way, and we just couldn't do that in the second half."
Missouri's game-winning touchdown drive was extended when defensive lineman Bijhon Jackson touched the ball and was penalized for offsides on a fourth-and-1 play from the Tigers 28 late in the third quarter.
"They're just trying to get us offsides and we don't have enough intelligence to hold our water and not make that play happen," Bielema said. "Unnecessary, unforced penalty.
"That was a big play."
Lock came into game completing 54.2 percent of his passes, but he had thrown for 22 touchdowns and an SEC-leading 3,131 passing yards.
"By statistics they're one of the teams offensively in the SEC that takes the biggest amount of shots downfield," Bielema said. "They've not completed them all that well, but they got behind us and they were easy catches for those guys uncontested.
"Obviously, that was a big part of their success."
Lock made the most of his big shots Friday when he completed 16 of 26 passes for 268 yards. He was 9 of 15 in the second half for 212 yards after being held to 56 passing yards in the first half when Arkansas took a 24-7 lead.
"He impressed me with his composure," Liddell said of Lock. "He got down in the first half and we got after him. They only scored seven points.
"But he came back and stood in there and made the big throws. He has a really live arm. He can really spin it."
It was the final home game for 17 Missouri seniors.
"No matter how it played out, we knew they wouldn't quit," Liddell said. "This is their senior day. This is their last game.
"There was no way they were going to come out for the second half and give up.
"We weren't on cruise control at all. They just made the plays."
Liddell, a junior from Pine Bluff, has played on Arkansas teams that combined for a 22-16 record.
"This is probably the most disappointing loss of my career honestly," he said. "The way we played the first half and were in control of the game there, and then in the second half they got those big plays.
"Those big plays really were the difference in the game. It's tough, but we'll look at the film, we'll make our corrections and we'll get ready for the bowl game."
Sports on 11/26/2016