JONESBORO -- Blake Anderson isn't sure that Justice Hansen's knee was down at the end of Saturday's loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
And the Arkansas State Coach said he is still upset about a false-start penalty that he feels was administered incorrectly, too.
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ARKANSAS STATE
AT TEXAS STATE
WHEN 6:30 p.m. Central
WHERE San Marcos, Texas
RECORDS ASU 6-5, 6-1 Sun Belt Conference; Texas State 2-9, 0-7
SERIES ASU leads 2-1
RADIO KASR-FM, 92.7, in Little Rock/Conway; KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
TV ESPN2
The outcome won't change, but disappointment still lingered at ASU two days after a 24-19 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, its first to a Sun Belt Conference team in two years and one that cost it a chance to win the league title outright.
ASU (6-5, 6-1) will play at Texas State (2-9, 0-7) in San Marcos on Saturday for a chance to share the Sun Belt with Appalachian State -- Troy could make it a three-way tie if it wins Saturday, too -- but Anderson said Monday a hangover effect is still sticking with the team.
"It's OK to be hurt," Anderson said he told his team.
The lingering disappointment is rooted mostly in how Saturday's game ended.
ASU trailed 24-19 and faced a fourth down on the Louisiana-Lafayette 11 when Hansen was forced from the pocket toward the sideline.
Hansen, a sophomore, attempted to lateral the ball back to midfield as he fell out of bounds, and it was picked up by offensive tackle Joseph Bacchus, who ran it into the end zone.
Officials called it a touchdown on the field, which would have given ASU a victory. Then, after a replay review, officials said that Hansen's knee was down before he executed the lateral, meaning it was a turnover on downs and Louisiana-Lafayette took a knee to run the final two seconds off the clock.
Anderson said he watched the play "a million times" and still isn't convinced there was enough evidence to overturn the call, saying that it was difficult to see when the ball left Hansen's hand.
"How do you know, based on the video, that the ball wasn't already coming out of the hand?" he said. "What constitutes out of the hand? A finger on the ball, two fingers? I mean, if it's a fumble, is the ball moving? Is it dislodged? I don't know."
Anderson said that he knows his complaints won't change the call's outcome, especially after Sun Belt Commissioner Carl Benson tweeted Saturday that after talking with coordinator of officials Steve Shaw that it was a "correct call."
Anderson said he still isn't convinced.
"Can you tell me that the ball wasn't moving on the way out of his hand yet?" Anderson said. "At what point is it not in his true possession anymore? Was it clearly before or after? I don't know."
The oddity of the final moments set off an ASU celebration, and then one from Louisiana-Lafayette. Anderson said that Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth called him Sunday and "apologized for the attitude of his guys" and that the Ragin' Cajuns coach was "embarrassed" for how they handled the final tense moments.
"It could have gotten ugly, and I've seen it get ugly," Anderson said, referring to the the game the teams played two years when nine players on both teams were reprimanded by the Sun Belt for actions during Louisiana-Lafayette's 55-40 victory over ASU.
Nothing like that is likely this year, but Anderson said he is waiting on an explanation from the league concerning a Louisiana-Lafayette penalty that nullified a 17-yard fourth-quarter punt return by ASU's Blaise Taylor with Louisiana-Lafayette leading 24-13 with 5:55 left.
The flag, Anderson said, was thrown after the play for a Ragin Cajuns' false start and the down was replayed. This punt went 66 yards and ASU started on its own 17, a loss of 39 yards from the original spot.
Anderson said he believes the penalty should have been an illegal shift, and that the penalty yards should have been tacked onto the end of the return.
"I expect a response that it was called wrong and we still lost," he said. "It wasn't handled properly, in my opinion. I've never seen a false start called after the play was over."
Anderson said he noticed gloomy faces among his team and staff on Sunday and Monday, some of it because of the loss and some of it because of a less-than-smooth trip during which ASU arrived in Lafayette, La., three hours later than scheduled and didn't return to Jonesboro until 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
Anderson said he's hopeful that smiles this Saturday night, when ASU plays for its fifth Sun Belt title -- won either outright or shared -- in the past six seasons.
"We've still got plenty to play for," he said.
Sports on 11/29/2016