Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where we break down what went right and what went wrong for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns! This week, we look at the Cajuns crushing loss to Arkansas State.
1st Down: Red Wolves Brought Pressure Early and Often
One of the biggest reasons for Arkansas State’s 47-3 win has to be because of their defense. The front seven got after the quarterback with five sacks and had 12 tackles for loss on the evening. One of the biggest positives for the Cajuns heading into the season was a strong offensive line.
What we saw on Thursday was an offensive line that was simply unable to stop the proverbial pipes from bursting. The run game didn’t fare much better with a total of 91 rushing yards.
2nd Down: Defense Takes a Couple Steps Back
This should have been expected with who the Cajuns have faced the last two weeks. Idaho has regressed a bit from last year and Texas State is just a cellar dweller in the Sun Belt. Your defense should hold those teams to under 20 points.
Arkansas State is a different monster and can cut you down a number of different ways because of the amount of talent they have on the roster. Justice Hansen has had more touchdown passes the last two games than the Cajuns have overall touchdowns in the last three games. James Willis has shown that he can make a bad defense look good against the lower-tier Sun Belt teams, but his defensive intelligence was no match for a well-oiled machine like Arkansas State.
3rd Down: Did It Matter Which QB Was In?
The quarterback carousel is back in full effect for the Ragin Cajuns after the loss on Thursday. Andre Nunez, who had been a beacon of light for an offense that was still searching for an identity wound up getting dismantled by the Red Wolves defense and was pulled after an interception in the endzone.
Jordan Davis had a decent night, but with zero touchdowns to show for it, what does it mean for the quarterback position going forward? Head coach Mark Hudspeth has been a big fan of what Davis has done since spring practice and the hot hand of Nunez seems to have worn off against a strong defense. The next couple of weeks will be important for this team with the margin for error being incredibly slim.
4th Down: Use Time Wisely
The Cajuns have 16 days to get ready for a team in South Alabama that seems to be just as topsy-turvy as they are right now. If they want to have a chance of making it back to a bowl game, they’ll need to win every game that they’re supposed to and maybe one they aren’t supposed to.
It’s easier said than done based off of what we saw on Thursday, but this team will need to buckle down the next two weeks like they did after the loss to UL Monroe. If they don’t, there might be some massive changes going on in the program.
-Clint Domingue