COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Arkansas' rivalry trophy case is empty.
A second-half stumble that rivaled the worst suffered by the Razorbacks in nearly a half century did the trick.
Game Sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 7-5, 3-5 SEC; Missouri 4-8, 2-6 SEC
STARS Missouri’s J’Mon Moore caught 6 passes for 135 yards and recovered Ish Witter’s negligent ball flip in the end zone for the Tigers’ first touchdown. Arkansas’ Rawleigh Williams rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown and Keon Hatcher had 3 catches for 106 yards. TURNING POINT Arkansas was leading 24-14 late in the third quarter when, in the span of five plays, Cale Garrett intercepted Austin Allen’s pass and returned it to the 4, then Anthony Sherrils ran 14 yards on a fake punt from the Missouri 7 to ignite a touchdown drive.
KEY STATS Missouri outgained Arkansas 262-185 in total offense and converted 6 of 10 third-down conversions and two fourth downs in the second half, once when Arkansas’ Bijhon Jackson touched the football on fourth and 1.
UP NEXT The Razorbacks await an announcement of their bowl destination.
Missouri rallied from a 17-point deficit at halftime and shut Arkansas out in the second half to stun the Razorbacks 28-24 on Friday and seize the Battle Line Trophy.
Missouri (4-8, 2-6 SEC) sold 51,043 tickets to the game at Faurot Field, but a much smaller crowd than that saw the Tigers battle back after being subdued by the Hogs for most of the first half. The Tigers won't go bowling this year, but they will hold the three-year-old trophy for the second time. LSU reclaimed the Golden Boot Trophy from Arkansas earlier this month.
The Razorbacks (7-5, 3-5) were on the cusp of improving their regular-season record for the third consecutive year under Bret Bielema before rolling out a second-half clunker.
A clearly frustrated Bielema said the first two series of the second half -- with Missouri converting two third and longs and scoring a touchdown followed by Arkansas throwing an interception from the Missouri 3 -- altered the momentum.
"They took advantage, got the momentum on their side and never let go of it," Bielema said. "Offensively and defensively, we just did too many things to destroy ourselves."
Missouri Coach Barry Odom ended his first season with a victory in a rivalry game.
"There are times in life that you're going to hit adversity," Odom said of rallying after a lackluster first half. "Winning is contagious, and the process of getting to this point is also contagious. I am excited about what we've got moving forward."
Arkansas had been 110-1 when leading by 17 or more points at halftime since 1970. The Razorbacks also led at Rutgers by 17 points in the second half of a loss by the same 28-24 score in Bielema's debut season of 2013.
"We gave it away, and it's going to hurt for a while," said Arkansas tailback Rawleigh Williams, who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown to reclaim the SEC rushing lead from LSU's Derrius Guice.
Tigers linebacker Eric Beisel made his way into Missouri lore. After intentionally mispronouncing Arkansas and advising the Razorbacks on Monday to not show up for the game, Beisel got in hot water with his coach and offered an apology to Bielema and the Hogs.
However, he and his teammates made his brash words stand up by delivering Missouri's second-largest comeback in a second half. Beisel had eight tackles, including one for lost yardage, and broke up a pass.
Arkansas scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 24-7 lead, but Adam McFain missed a 48-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. Missouri put up a wall at the goal line in the second half.
The Razorbacks came up empty on three drives inside the Missouri 10 in the second half. Two of those ended in Missouri interceptions, one at the goal line and one in the end zone.
"We just threw away some opportunities," said Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen, who passed for 348 yards and a touchdown but threw the interceptions from the Missouri 3 and 5. "I'm just really ... kind of disgusted right now."
The momentum swung early in the third quarter. J'Mon Moore made catches of 48 and 18 yards to convert a pair of third-and-long plays and set up Nate Strong's 2-yard touchdown as Missouri trimmed its deficit to 24-14.
Allen responded by directing a 13-play, 66-yard drive that consumed nearly eight minutes. On third and goal from the 3, he rolled right and was hit by cornerback Aarion Penton just as he threw to an open Drew Morgan.
"I got hit, and it just kind of fluttered up in the air," Allen said. "I feel like if the guy hadn't hit me it would have been a touchdown. Game of inches, just trying to make a play and I throw that away."
Arkansas had two chances inside the Missouri 10 on its final two possessions. After Williams covered 52 yards on a screen pass, Allen scrambled for 10 more to the Missouri 4. Williams powered to the 1 to set up second and goal, but he was stopped for a 1-yard loss on the next play, then Allen was thrown for a 3-yard loss on third down.
Bielema turned down a field goal try with more than four minutes remaining, and Penton picked off Allen's throw on fourth down as Dominique Reed crossed at the back of the end zone.
Missouri ran three plays and punted, giving Arkansas a final shot from its own 38 with 2:53 left.
Williams had a 16-yard burst up the middle to open the series, and after a holding call on Brian Wallace, Allen found Keon Hatcher for 23 yards on first and 20 at the Missouri 21. Drew Morgan caught a 9-yard pass, then Williams moved the chains with a 3-yard run to the 9 to set up Arkansas' final set of downs.
Dan Skipper was flagged for holding on first down, then Reed's catch in the right flat went for a 1-yard loss at the 20. Hatcher caught Allen's next pass, but he was pushed out of bounds while coming down and could not get a foot down in the end zone. Linebacker Donavin Newsom was credited with a breakup on a pass in the end zone to Jeremy Sprinkle on the next snap.
On fourth down, Missouri played five defensive backs across the goal line and rushed with the other seven. End Marcell Frazier got the heat on Allen, forcing a pass up the middle that was ruled intentional grounding, giving the Tigers an upset victory in their season finale.
"To lose a game like that, in that fashion when you're up 24-7, it's tough," Arkansas safety Josh Liddell said.
Missouri, the SEC's total offense leader with 509.7 yards per game, was out of sync in the opening half, when Arkansas led 24-7 and held the Tigers to 137 total yards on 19 plays.
But quarterback Drew Lock, who was not sacked and hardly pressured, began finding his timing on deep passes to J'Mon Moore, Johnathon Johnson and Dimetrios Mason.
"We just continued to work out the kinks and make sure that we are on the same page," Johnson said.
Arkansas beat SEC East champion Florida four weeks ago but lost to the team with the worst record in the conference.
The loss completed and up-and-down final two months of the season for Arkansas, which alternated losses followed by victories in each of its past nine games.
"What I believe in is finishing," Bielema said. "Finishing the season, finishing the game, finishing the drive, finishing the series, finishing a play. We just weren't able to do that today, and that's very frustrating."
Sports on 11/26/2016