Butch Jones is off to a rough start at Arkansas State following a 28-27 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Ragin’ Cajuns won on the road behind a pair of dominant rushing performances from running backs Chris Smith and Montrell Johnson, as the Cajuns totaled 424 yards on the ground on Thursday night. The Ragin’ Cajuns clinched bowl eligibility for the fourth consecutive season under head coach Billy Napier.
Arkansas State fell to 1-6, but the former Tennessee coach and Alabama intern said after the game that things changed this week.
“It’s all about winning games and playing winning football, but I thought our whole team changed this week,” Jones said, per KAIT-8. “We changed our mindset at practice, at the hotel (before the game). It was a different team and that’s something to build upon. The fight and grit of this team showed. They’re battered and beat up, but they showed a lot of heart. I thought we took a step forward in our culture this week and we took one of the perennial powers in this league (down to the wire). Our kids laid it on the line tonight.”
🌙 Turn out the lights.#cULture | #GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/7oMvyd0gKL
— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Football (@RaginCajunsFB) October 22, 2021
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
