JONESBORO — A day after a down-to-the-wire finish that cost Arkansas State its chance to win an outright Sun Belt Conference title, Coach Blake Anderson said Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth called to apologize for his team’s conduct toward the end of the game.
Anderson, speaking during his weekly news conference Monday, said Hudspeth “apologized for the attitude of his guys,” adding that the Ragin’ Cajuns coach was “embarrassed” for how they handled the final tense moments of their 24-19 victory.
It happened after ASU quarterback Justice Hansen was ruled down near the sideline before he lateraled a ball back to midfield that was picked up and run into the end zone by offensive tackle Joseph Bacchus. The play was called a touchdown before a replay review concluded that Hansen’s knee was down.
ASU players celebrated onto the field following the original call, then Louisiana-Lafayette players did so after it was overturned. Anderson said Hudspeth told him that “our guys showed their butts.”
“It shouldn’t have happened and you guys handled yourselves with class and [I] wanted to tell you how much we apologize and how much I really appreciate it,” Anderson said Hudspeth told him.
It didn’t get ugly despite what Anderson said was “three-quarters of their team came over and taunted themselves in front of our players” after the replay review.
“Our guys didn’t respond. That’s almost impossible,” Anderson said. “That’s almost impossible for me not to respond. That’s just the way we’re built.”
Two years ago, nine players were publicly reprimanded by the Sun Belt Conference for conduct during ASU’s loss at Louisiana-Lafayette.
None of that happened after this year’s loss, as both teams left the field without incident following the Ragin’ Cajuns’ victory.
How the final play was ruled was still on Anderson’s mind Monday afternoon, too. ASU was facing a fourth down from the Louisiana-Lafayette 11 when Hansen scrambled from the pocket. He was tripped up when he reached the sideline and then lateraled the ball backward, where it was picked up by Bacchus, who recovered it at the 7 and scored.
Anderson said he has looked at the replay “a million times” and isn’t sure there was enough evidence to overturn the call.
“It’s a matter of shutter frames whether or not the ball was actually coming out of his hand or not,” Anderson said. “At what point is it conclusive that he didn’t have control of it anymore? … I’m not convinced it was 100 percent.”
Other notes from Monday’s news conference:
-Coach Blake Anderson expects a response from the Sun Belt Conference regarding a false start penalty against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday that wiped out a Blaise Taylor punt return to the ASU 46. The flag was thrown after the play, Anderson said, and officials made it so Louisiana-Lafayette punted again, and this one rolled to the ASU 17 in the fourth quarter. ASU turned it over on downs on the following drive. Anderson said after the game it should have been an illegal motion, and the yardage would have been tacked onto Taylor’s return.
“I expect a response that it was called wrong and we still lost,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t handled properly, in my opinion.”
-Arkansas State lost last week despite gaining 521 yards. Part of the reason was its troubles in the red zone. It got inside Louisiana-Lafayette’s 20-yard line six times but had only one touchdown to show for it.
“We’re much better from 20-to-20 unless we can really create a physical presence up front,” Anderson said. “And that’s just not the way we’re built on the O-Line right now.”
-It was a tough trip all around for ASU. The charter plane carrying the team was late getting to Louisiana-Lafayette so the team didn’t eat dinner until Friday at 9:30 p.m. Then, there was a delay leaving on Saturday. Anderson said the charter didn't leave Lafayette, La., until 9:15 p.m. and they arrived in Jonesboro at 1 a.m. Sunday.
“This was just a nightmare,” Anderson said. “It was miserable. But it don’t matter. At 11 o’clock, we’ve got to be ready to play.”
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.