Tigers 21, Razorbacks 14
15-point 4th quarter enough for Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Arkansas didn’t capitalize on its first-half dominance Friday and paid the price for committing a flurry of penalties and leaving its defense on the field too long in the second half of a 21-14 loss to No. 17 Missouri on Friday.
The Tigers (10-2, 7-1 SEC) won the first game in the new season-ending rivalry by taking charge late in the second half with touchdown drives of 98 and 85 yards to earn their second consecutive SEC East title before a crowd of 71,168 at Faurot Field.
Missouri is headed for an SEC-levied fine after its fans stormed the field following the game, but the Tigers also are headed to the SEC Championship Game for a second consecutive season.
Arkansas extended its streak without allowing a touchdown to 12 full quarters plus one minute, but led only 14-6 as the fourth quarter commenced. Once the Tigers seized the momentum on Jimmie Hunt’s 4-yard touchdown catch from Maty Mauk and a tying two-point conversion with 12:41 remaining, they looked impossible to stop with the home crowd roaring and Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen ailing.
“This team is very special and remarkably competitive,” Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said. “One of the great traits they have is that when things get tough, they get tougher.”
Arkansas (6-6, 2-6 SEC), trying to extend its two game-winning streak, committed a season-high 12 penalties for 93 yards, including a personal foul on Darius Philon that aided a Missouri two-minute drill that ended on Andrew Baggett’s 50-yard
field goal on the final play of the first half.
The Razorbacks’ final drive ended when the replay official ruled tailback Alex Collins lost a fumble at the Missouri 35 that was recovered by the Tigers’ Markus Golden with 2:13 remaining.
“For us to beat an SEC team of this caliber on the road, you’ve got to play a lot more clean,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. “One of our edges that we preach on every day is to eliminate unforced errors and there was some uncharacteristic offsides, a couple of personal fouls.
“We’ve been able to take care of the football the two games prior to this and we win games. … It was just fitting there at the end, be loose with the ball and it allowed a turnover to happen.”
Mauk completed 25 of 42 passes for 265 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His favorite target, Bud Sasser, had nine catches for 127 yards.
Jonathan Williams rushed for 72 yards to lead Arkansas, and Collins had 59 yards to push his season total to 1,024 yards and join Williams as the first 1,000-yard rushing tandem since Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in 2007.
Allen, playing with a strained oblique muscle in his right side, clearly lost accuracy in the second half but never came out of the game. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half, but he was 6 of 20 for 56 yards in the second half.
“A lot of third-down throws that would have kept drives alive, I just missed them,” Allen said.
The Arkansas offense struggled to stay on the field in the second half — going 0 for 7 on third-down conversions — and Missouri eventually took the initiative, hitting a couple of deep passes after missing repeatedly on downfield shots through the first three quarters, and cranking up their running game.
Arkansas held the Tigers to 22 rushing yards in the first half, but tailbacks Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy got rolling late, finishing with 91 and 58 rushing yards, respectively.
Mauk threw a 44-yard strike down a seam to Hunt to convert a third-and-7 play on the first snap of the fourth quarter and the Tigers owned the final period. Missouri rushed for 112 yards in the fourth quarter and passed for another 80 and outgained the Razorbacks 192-47 in total offense.
“I wouldn’t say we were gassed,” Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers said. “They kind of schemed us a little bit, figured out what we were doing, and kudos to their offensive coordinator. They saw holes in our defense and they attacked them.”
Arkansas had chances to build a bigger lead in the first half but didn’t. Leading 14-3 with 4:32 left in the half, D.J. Dean intercepted a pass tipped at the line by Philon at the Missouri 47.
The Razorbacks went backward with a couple of false-start calls and had to punt. Arkansas thought it had a takeaway when Flowers swatted the ball free from Mauk and Taiwan Johnson recovered at the Missouri 19. But the replay official overturned the call, ruling Mauk’s arm had just begun coming forward and judging it an incomplete pass.
The Tigers cashed in, helped by Philon’s push on Mauk at the sideline for a 15-yard penalty and Baggett made it 14-6 at the half with his second long field goal of the game.
Arkansas started the game hot again. The Razorbacks won the coin toss, deferred, held Missouri to a threeand-out series and scored on their first possession for the sixth consecutive game.
The Razorbacks had three third-down conversions on Keon Hatcher’s 7-yard catch, Williams’ 3-yard run and Jared Cornelius’ 6-yard catch.
On first down from the Missouri 23, Allen spotted Williams in the left flats with no defender around and dropped in a pass that allowed Williams to race in untouched.
The Tigers found their offensive stride on their next possession. Mauk went 8 of 9 passing for 51 yards as Missouri reached the 22 on the final play of the first quarter. Flowers blew past tackle Taylor Chappel to sack Mauk for a 12-yard loss on third and 5. Baggett came on to make a career-long 52-yard field goal.
Jared Cornelius’ 35-yard punt return triggered Arkansas’ next scoring drive, which included three Williams’ runs for 22 yards. The Razorbacks went ahead 14-3 with 7:15 left in the half as Allen threw a strike on Hatcher’s slant route and Hatcher bulled in with a defender on his back for a 12-yard score.