FAYETTEVILLE -- No cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all process comes with handling defeat.
Reactions within all of us vary like the conflicting advice we receive from, "Just forget it and move on" to "you need to own up to this."
On football teams, the conflicting advice can come from the same sources. Coaches push buttons to instill resolve in some and for others to back off from dwelling on a defeat lest it defeat them twice.
Timing factors if there is a game the next week or like the Nov. 25 to Dec. 29 gap between Coach Bret Bielema's Arkansas Razorbacks losing a 24-7 halftime lead to lose 28-24 at underdog Missouri to their Belk Bowl against Virginia Tech in Charlotte, N.C.
"First, we obviously have to take this film and own it as coaches and players," Bielema said during the messy Mizzou aftermath in Columbia, Mo. "The worst thing we can do is leave this here. We have to carry it home with us. We have to own it."
He sang a different tune Dec. 4 when the Razorbacks were assigned the Belk Bowl.
"We had to put the Missouri game to rest," Bielema said. "I pointed out some things to them that we need to correct and move forward. I would like to play one this week to get that taste out of your mouth, but our guys will handle it the right way."
The "right way" is a different way for Arkansas' top quarterback and top receiver.
Defying what his ordinary looking 6-0, 193-pound frame projects, free-spirited senior receiver Drew Morgan of Greenwood confounds defenses catching 63 passes for 843 yards last year from former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen and this year from quarterback Austin Allen catching 61 for 664 yards with the bowl left to play.
Prolonged Mizzou introspection would only burden him, so Morgan chose to move on his way.
"I have completely forgot about the Missouri game," Morgan said after Wednesday's practice. "I have put that in the past. It took awhile to get over, but I am over it. I am excited about Virginia Tech and this Belk Bowl opportunity."
Though mostly vastly exceeding expectations his first year succeeding his brother as starting quarterback, fourth-year junior Austin Allen of Fayetteville took personally the team's second-half collapse at Missouri.
Allen's renewed resolve at practice is self-evident, Bielema said.
"He's really taken ownership since the Missouri game," Bielema said. "Getting guys to [do] what they need to do, getting on players to be where they're supposed to be because he knows that's what's expected. He is this football team. He's the one guy you can point to when he plays well, we play well. When he doesn't, we don't. That burden carries a certain price tag."
Morgan notices Allen's leadership difference even as he's praised the quarterback all year.
"Austin is on point, man," Morgan said Wednesday. "There ain't nothing wrong with that kid. He comes into the huddle like I have never seen before."
Sports on 12/17/2016