Disappointed Red Wolves looking for late turnaround

LAFAYETTE, La. — Arkansas State University knows it will be an uphill climb if the Red Wolves plan on playing in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game on Dec. 1.

A 47-43 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette has left the Red Wolves(4-4,1-3SunBelt)a game behind the Ragin’ Cajuns and Louisiana-Monroe heading into the season’s final stretch.

“We’re disappointed,” said ASU Athletic Director Terry Mohajir after Saturday’s defeat in Lafayette, La. “I was in the locker room after the game. We’re very disappointed. Coaches are disappointed. Fans are disappointed.

“Look, half the teams in college football lose every week. That’s all part of life and growing up. You can either accept it, move on and get better or you can dive into a hole and hide. That’s not going to happen here.”

The Red Wolves have four regular-season games remaining. Three are against Western Division opponents, including Saturday’s 2 p.m. home contest against South Alabama.

The Ragin’ Cajuns have two games left against the West — Nov. 17 against South Alabama and Nov. 24 at Louisiana-Monroe.

Representing the West in theSunBeltConferencetitle game remains a possibility, but ASU needs to take care of business these final four games to be able to contend for the championship.

“What I do know, having been in this league for awhile at another institution as well, things can happen in 4-5 games,” said Mohajir, an ASU alumnus and a former Red Wolves safety. “So, I can’t see in the crystal ball to know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what’s going to happen week to week. All we can do is control what we do. I know our players are going to work hard to get better. I know our coaches are too.”

ASU nearly escaped its current situation Saturday against the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Red Wolves washed away a 10-point halftime deficit and a 34-21 hole in the third quarter. ASU took its first lead of the game at 35-34 with 10:51 left in the game. After a Louisiana-Lafayette score, the Red Wolves managed to take a 43-40 lead with 5:48 remaining when freshman Marcel Murray blasted in from 7 yards for his third touchdown of the game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns then got the game-winning score on a 2-yard Trey Ragas run with 1:18 remaining.

“We’ve just go to keep fighting after this,” Murray said. “It’s a hard loss, but we’ve got to keep fighting.”

Mohajir said the team will have show its resiliency as it recovers from its third loss in four games.

“It’s frustrating,” Mohajir said. “No one is more frustrated than the coaches and the players. We’ve got to continue to get better and get back to work. And they have to do that tomorrow.”

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