HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Arkansas State Coach Butch Jones didn’t intend to be prophetic during his news conference last Tuesday: “It’s critical plays, critical stretches of the game, having the competitive endurance, the mental endurance to be able to play a high level of football through four quarters,” he said.
But the Red Wolves had to know. They’d twice held fourth-quarter leads in September, only to lose on the road at Memphis and Old Dominion. They’d hung within a possession of soon-to-be-ranked James Madison for 50 minutes.
If this ASU team was going to win, it would require the complete 60-minute performance that the Red Wolves have yet to put together in Jones’ first 18 games.