 It seems Missouri linebacker Eric Beisel had second thoughts about the words he used earlier this week to describe the Tigers' upcoming game against Arkansas.

Arkansas Bret Bielema and Missouri coach Barry Odom confirmed Wednesday that Odom called Tuesday in an attempt to let Tigers’ linebacker Eric “Zeus” Beisel apologize for comments he made Monday.

Beisel mispronounced "Arkansas" intentionally and said it would be a "mistake" for the Razorbacks (7-4, 3-4 SEC) to show up for Friday’s 1:30 p.m. game.

Arkansas players respond to comments by Missouri linebacker (By Matt Jones)

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“I got a good message from Coach Odom,” Bielema said. “He and I are fairly good in our profession as friends and he reached out early yesterday morning in reference to it.

“He said the young man wanted to get on the phone and apologize. Just with my schedule and his schedule, I said, ‘We fully accept and understand this is not the first time this has happened.’

“I did tell Barry to tell him, 'Hey, the Razorbacks accept the apology fully as long as he learns how to pronounce Arkansas.’ That was something that struck a chord here in the state.

“I may not be from here, but I understand what that means and agreed wholeheartedly. I think it is water under the bridge and the game gets played on Friday.”

Odom said he had several conversations with Beisel about the matter.

“I think I said this earlier in the week before any of this came out, I have so much respect for Bret and his program and the state of Arkansas,” Odom said. “I have got family that live there (in Rogers) and grew up visiting a lot.

“I’ve got 115 kids and every day you want them to make the right decision and I try to put them in position to have all the information they need to always be right.

“Obviously Eric and I have had a few conversations on this and it is not something I am really interested in - making bold statements about anybody. One of my players is what I am talking about.

“He said it, can’t get it back, we apologize and that doesn’t reflect our feelings with one making statements like that.”

Beisel intentionally mispronounced "Arkansas" as "Ar-kansas" three times. The St. Louis native said he was pulling a hoax and stringing the Razorbacks along in the recruiting process back in high school.

"Whether they decide to get on a plane and show up at our stadium on Friday, that's their call," Beisel told reporters, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. "I'll tell you what, if they do decide to come, it's going to be hectic. Our fans are going to bring it, and we're going to bring it. It'd be a mistake, showing up in Columbia, Missouri.

"We're going to take some aggression out on Ar-kansas this Friday, this Black Friday. It's going to be a black-out game. They're not going to see what's coming. If they do decide to show up, like I said, it'll be a huge mistake.”

The comments seemed strange as Missouri - last in the 14-team SEC in total defense - had just given up 609 yards in a 63-37 loss at Tennessee.

The Tigers are 3-8 overall, 1-6 in the SEC.

"Obviously we're going to make some changes and progress, and when we step out there against Ar-kansas, we're going to dominate," Beisel said.