Butch Jones does not have to search very hard to find the biggest concern Arkansas State carries into Saturday night’s Sun Belt Conference opener at Louisiana.
It showed up repeatedly on film from last week’s win over Kennesaw State.
Tackling.
Arkansas State escaped with a 17-14 victory, but Jones estimated the Red Wolves surrendered approximately 128 yards after initial contact. Against a Louisiana offense built around a powerful quarterback, a big offensive line, physical running backs and a deep group of tight ends, those extra yards could become considerably more costly.
“If you do that against Louisiana in terms of not only the quarterback, but the tight ends and the running backs, they’re going to have a lot of leaky yards,” Jones said. “We had way too many leaky yards in the Kennesaw game. ... Against a team like Louisiana, you can’t do that.”