Virginia Tech overcomes 24-0 halftime deficit to shock Arkansas in Belk Bowl

Bret Bielema is 25-26 in four seasons at Arkansas. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

What a difference a half can make.

In the Belk Bowl against Arkansas Thursday night, Virginia Tech trailed 24-0 at halftime. From there, the Hokies scored 35 unanswered points to shock the Razorbacks, 35-24.

Arkansas completely controlled things early on, but the Hokies looked like a different team coming out of the locker room for the third quarter. The Virginia Tech defense forced turnovers on three of Arkansas’ first four second half possessions (a fumble and two interceptions) and scored touchdowns after all three of them.

All three turnovers gave the Hokies and quarterback Jerod Evans a short field. Evans accounted for all three of those third quarter touchdowns — a four-yard run and short passes to Sam Rogers and Chris Cunningham.

Rogers’ catch was a beauty:

And even when the Razorbacks weren’t turning it over, the offense went nowhere. After a punt late in the third, the Hokies drove straight down the field to take their first lead. On the tenth play of the drive, Travon McMillian took it in from five yards out to give Tech a 28-24 lead.

Any chance of a comeback was quickly thwarted by the swarming Hokies defense. Tech sacked Arkansas’ quarterback Austin Allen six times in the second half, and later intercepted him for a third time to set up another short Evans touchdown run to put the game out of reach with 6:41 to go.

When the dust finally settled, Arkansas gained a total of 34 yards in the second half. That was after the Razorbacks had everything going their way in the first half.

Virginia Tech fumbled on its first offensive play, giving Arkansas a short field for a field goal. The Razorbacks had an impressive nine-play, 90-yard scoring drive later in the first quarter to go up 10-0. And Evans threw an interception on the ensuing possession, leading to yet another Arkansas score and a 17-0 lead after one quarter.

That lead jumped to 24-0 on an Allen touchdown pass to Keon Hatcher midway through the third. Allen had a hot start, completing 12 of his 14 passes, but those early second half turnovers and the aggressive Hokies front turned things for him in the second half. He finished 18-of-31 for 278 yards.

The win is a great end to Justin Fuente’s first season as Hokies head coach. With the win, Tech (10-4), which won the ACC Coastal this year, reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2011. It also marks the first time in program history the Hokies have won a bowl in three consecutive seasons. With Evans, who threw for 243 yards, ran for 87 and had four combined TDs, returning for his senior season, the Hokies should generate a lot of hype entering next season.

The loss puts an end to an up-and-down year for Bret Bielema and the Razorbacks. After a 3-0 start, the Hogs alternated wins and losses the rest of the regular season before Thursday night’s loss dropped their record to 7-6. Don’t be surprised if Bielema, now 25-26 in his four seasons, is connected with some hot seat talk leading up to the 2017 season.

Oh, and if you were wondering: the ACC is now 5-1 in bowl play. The SEC is 1-4.