11-25-2017, 12:53 AM
It may only be a matter of days now before Arkansas pulls the plug on the Bret Bielema era with the Razorbacks, but at least Arkansas went down fighting. Arkansas (4-8, 1-7 SEC) came up just short at home against Missouri (7-5, 4-4 SEC) in the regular season finale as a late go-ahead field goal lifted the Tigers to a 48-45 victory.
The win clinched a winning season for Missouri, which is an incredible feat given how this season started out. The Tigers were really struggling in the first half of the season after suffering blowout losses at home to South Carolina, Purdue, and Auburn and on the road against Georgia. During that rough stretch, head coach Barry Odom came off sounding like he was under extreme pressure when he passionately defending himself as being the right coach for the job. Turns out, he was right. Missouri ended the season on a six-game winning streak as they now prepare to go to a bowl game few would have seen coming back in October.
Missouri quarterback Drew Lock passed for 448 yards and five touchdowns in the game as the Tigers managed to dig out of an early hole and then come up with just a few more plays than the Razorbacks. Missouri racked up 696 yards of offense and 35 first downs. And it didnât hurt when Bielema made some bizarre coaching decisions in the fourth quarter.
As Missouri goes on to prepare for whatever bowl game may be coming their way, Arkansas has some work to do with its football program. By most accounts, Bielema will be replaced as head coach as Arkansas reshapes the leadership for the program, including with a new athletics director still to be named.
This is the second losing season under Bielema for Arkansas, with the first being in his first season on the job since leaving Wisconsin and the Big Ten. In five seasons at Arkansas, Bielema is 29-34.
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-missouri/
The win clinched a winning season for Missouri, which is an incredible feat given how this season started out. The Tigers were really struggling in the first half of the season after suffering blowout losses at home to South Carolina, Purdue, and Auburn and on the road against Georgia. During that rough stretch, head coach Barry Odom came off sounding like he was under extreme pressure when he passionately defending himself as being the right coach for the job. Turns out, he was right. Missouri ended the season on a six-game winning streak as they now prepare to go to a bowl game few would have seen coming back in October.
Missouri quarterback Drew Lock passed for 448 yards and five touchdowns in the game as the Tigers managed to dig out of an early hole and then come up with just a few more plays than the Razorbacks. Missouri racked up 696 yards of offense and 35 first downs. And it didnât hurt when Bielema made some bizarre coaching decisions in the fourth quarter.
As Missouri goes on to prepare for whatever bowl game may be coming their way, Arkansas has some work to do with its football program. By most accounts, Bielema will be replaced as head coach as Arkansas reshapes the leadership for the program, including with a new athletics director still to be named.
This is the second losing season under Bielema for Arkansas, with the first being in his first season on the job since leaving Wisconsin and the Big Ten. In five seasons at Arkansas, Bielema is 29-34.
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-missouri/