JONESBORO — Of course Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Levi Lewis was going to sneak it. He’d already sprinted up to the line once, just before the Ragin’ Cajuns called timeout.
Two minutes left, just 1 yard needed to ice the game with the Ragin’ Cajuns having already run for 400-plus yards. It had to be a keeper.
And then he pitched it.
With a simple toss to Montrell Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette put the finishing touches on its master class in clock management, salting away the final 10:26 of Thursday night’s matchup with Arkansas State to escape Centennial Bank Stadium with a 28-27 win.
The Ragin’ Cajuns ran 16 times on their 20-play, 90-yard drive closing drive, and their run game was the story of the game — Louisiana-Lafayette piled up 424 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground on 53 carries, including a 99-yard score by Johnson and Chris Smith’s game-winning 74-yard scamper late in the third quarter.
“It’s really disappointing,” defensive end Joe Ozougwu said. “We’ve got to stop the little [mistakes]. They broke four big runs that killed this game, too, but it’s the small details that killed us, man. We can’t have those penalties, especially on critical downs.
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ASU vs Lousiana Football
Arkansas State loses to Louisiana-Lafayette 28-27 on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro.
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“Coach [Butch] Jones sacrificed so much and to not play for him and not come away with a win is really hurtful.”
When ASU’s Justin Parks emerged from the pile early in the third quarter with a fumble recovery, it seemed like the freshman might’ve just stolen the momentum from the Ragin’ Cajuns. Louisiana-Lafayette (6-1, 4-0 Sun Belt) had just responded to ASU’s go-ahead score with a touchdown of its own, and the visitors were marching after forcing a Red Wolf three-and-out series.
Parks fell on a Smith fumble near midfield, giving the Red Wolves a chance to retake the lead. That they did, going 51 yards in less than a minute as Layne Hatcher hit Emmanual Stevenson from 15 yards for the tight end’s first career touchdown to put ASU (1-6, 0-3) up 24-21.
Eight plays later, Red Wolves cornerback Kenneth Harris jumped in front of a Lewis pass, and all of a sudden, ASU was poised to take its first double-digit lead since the season opener.
Despite taking possession at the Louisiana-Lafayette 30, the Red Wolves managed only a 35-yard Blake Grupe field goal for a 27-21 advantage.
“We knew we had to score touchdowns in the red zone,” Jones said. “We could not kick field goals and we had to kick two field goals. We had an opportunity on both plays to score and those are the things that you’ve got to take advantage of.”
Less than a minute later, Smith busted free down the Louisiana-Lafayette sideline for his long score, and it was all the Ragin’ Cajuns would need to escape Jonesboro with a sixth straight win.
But for nearly the entirety of the opening 30 minutes, the Red Wolves looked poised to snap their five-game losing skid. Although ASU entered the night with the nation’s worst scoring defense, the hosts kept the Ragin’ Cajuns off the scoreboard throughout the opening quarter — it was just the second time the Red Wolves had held an opponent scoreless in any quarter this season.
Hatcher, starting in place of the injured James Blackman, marched ASU 94 yards over nearly six minutes before connecting with Corey Rucker for a touchdown with just 5:38 left until halftime.
“We really believed that we can go beat any team that’s out there,” running back Lincoln Pare said. “The biggest difference [this week] was coming together as a team and having that belief and swag and confidence.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns marched 80 yards in less than two minutes just before halftime to grab the lead back from the Red Wolves. Instead of carrying a lead into the locker room for the first time under Jones, ASU trailed 14-10.
“I care about these guys so much, I think that’s why losing hurts so much,” Hatcher said.
