Arkansas’ Bret Bielema walked off the field at halftime Thursday with a 24-0 lead. As he headed for the locker room, the Razorbacks coach confidently promised his team wouldn’t let up in the second half. He’d make a point to remind his team to finish strong.
Despite Bielema’s assurance, the Razorbacks failed to do that, as they have so many other times this season. There weren’t many teams as poor in the second half of games as Arkansas. By the end of Thursday’s Belk Bowl collapse against No. 22 Virginia Tech, there were even fewer. The Hokies beat Arkansas 35-24, overcoming the three-score halftime deficit to win 10 games for the first time since 2011.