NEW ORLEANS -- News first leaked about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, two hours before Arkansas State was set to leave its team hotel for the Superdome.
The report, which ASU officials did not confirm before the Red Wolves' 47-28 loss to Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl, was that offensive coordinator Walt Bell was coaching his last game at ASU.
But it was true.
The Red Wolves players were told in the locker room before the game, but Coach Blake Anderson waited until after afterward to make it official.
Bell, who at 31 had become one of the hottest names on the coaching market in the days after helping ASU set a school and Sun Belt Conference scoring record, was indeed heading to Big Ten school Maryland as offensive coordinator.
It was no easier for Anderson to discuss Bell's departure than it was to watch his Red Wolves revert to the form it displayed in three September nonconference losses -- a performance rife with too many penalties, turnovers and a defense that lost its opportunistic nature.
Bell, who had worked with Anderson over the last six seasons at three different schools, wasn't available for comment after the game, and he left the locker room before the end of the news conferences for both teams.
Maryland announced the move Sunday morning.
"When you've got good staffs, and you're doing a good job, you can always expect at any point you can lose one," Anderson said.
But Anderson also admitted something else: "Now, this one hurt a little bit."
That pain had to do with the close relationship between Anderson and Bell, something they discussed regularly over their two years together in Jonesboro.
Anderson now faces his first major point of transition in his two seasons as ASU coach.
Bell was one of eight original staff members brought in by Anderson following his hire in December 2013, and the nine assistants who coached Saturday have been together for every game the last two seasons. Anderson hired Keith Heckendorf to be his tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator, but Heckendorf left after signing day to return to North Carolina.
Anderson didn't lay out his specific plans to replace Bell after Saturday's loss, but said that he'll be patient and that the system to which he has been dedicated for more than a decade will be unchanged.
"We're going to keep doing what we do offensively," Anderson said. "We've been running this system for about 15 years, and it really hasn't changed regardless of who is calling the plays.
"I'm not in a rush either. I want to make sure it's the right person. We're going to be really talented skill wise, and I want to make sure I bring somebody in that fits our personality."
Other than that, Saturday's postgame reaction was similar to last year's GoDaddy Bowl, a 63-44 loss to Toledo in which a banged-up ASU team was overwhelmed in the second half.
The Red Wolves were able to run through the Sun Belt unscratched in part because of their ability to stay healthy, but they couldn't hang on over the season's final weeks.
Senior nickel back Charleston Girley missed the final four games with a knee injury, and ASU lost three key offensive players at different points Saturday night -- running back Michael Gordon (knee), receiver J.D. McKissic (collarbone and foot) and guard Colton Jackson (ankle).
Gordon played the first series, gaining 3 yards on 2 carries. McKissic was a key part of the plan early, catching 3 passes for 26 yards, rushing 3 times for 25 yards and he threw a 9-yard pass to Knighten, but he watched the second half in street clothes while on crutches. Jackson was helped off the field twice, the last coming in the third quarter.
All three of those players, along with defensive end Chris Stone who was suspended following his arrest on drug charges, were all-Sun Belt picks.
"Not having J.D. and Mike, those are two guys the defense has to account for," quarterback Fredi Knighten said. "Not having them hurt a little bit. ... With those guys, it might have been a little bit different, but guess we'll never know."
Knighten's 179 yards of total offense (137 passing, 42 rushing) were his lowest output since an Oct. 20 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. Running back Warren Wand finished with 66 yards on 12 carries and 1 touchdown and Johnston White had 41 yards on 9 carries while taking up the bulk of the slack for Gordon.
"Me and [White] stepped in, and did as good a job as we could," Wand said.
ASU turned it over three times. Wand fumbled once and Knighten threw two interceptions,
Louisiana Tech turned the first two turnovers into a field goal and a touchdown. Knighten's final interception came in the final minute.
ASU's defense, the best in the FBS at forcing turnovers, came up empty. Jeff Driskel passed for 458 yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception and Strong's Kenneth Dixon had 215 yards of offense with 4 total touchdowns without a turnover.
It was the first time since the season-opener against Southern Cal that ASU didn't force a turnover.
"I told them if you want to win there's the formula," Louisiana Tech Coach Skip Holtz said.
It all added up for a rough night for ASU, one that began with unsettling news.
"I'm sure it had an effect of some kind," said Anderson, of Bell's departure. "I would have loved for it to come out in the morning, but that's not the nature of the media. Everyone wants to be the first one to get the story out.
"Our kids still played hard, we just didn't play very well. We just didn't have a very great night."
Sports on 12/21/2015