HARRISONBURG, Va. One could argue very little changed for the UL Ragin' Cajuns in Saturday's 24-14 loss to the James Madison Dukes.
For the fourth time this season, the Cajuns walked off the field without as many points as their opponent. UL is now 2-4 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt play.
But somehow, this one didn't have the same feel to it as the first three losses.
The passing game was so poor in the first two losses and the defense struggled mightily in the third one. This one wasn't like those.
Before analyzing UL's performance, understand one truth. The Cajuns won't face a defense as tough to run the ball against the rest of the season.
Factoring that into the equation, other aspects of the game were essentially what the coaching staff envisioned this team being.
Run the ball, play scrappy defense and hit big plays in the passing game.
Lunch Winfield was 14-of-28 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns. The 243 yards were the most James Madison's defense has allowed all season.
That's about where UL coach Michael Desormeaux was thinking UL's offense would be in the season opener.
"Yes, we were thinking that we were going to be able to create explosives in the throw game," Desormeaux said. "We did some of that today. It's still not as precise as you'd like it to be at times, but it's good to have guys that are making plays down the field."
It was also good to see Robert Williams playing like a No. 1 receiver with five receptions for a career-high 134 yards on five receptions.
"He's 1,000% in on this team," Desormeaux said.
"He knew he was coming back," Winfield said.
Indeed, missing the comeback win over Marshall because of a concussion motivated Williams.
"I just missed them and seeing what they did last week against Marshall really just boosted my confidence - just seeing it, watching it happen," Williams said. "So I feel like that's what snapped in my brain."
It was also good to see Winfield so composed facing very adverse circumstances.
The Cajuns rushed the ball for one first down in the entire game. In future games, UL will be able to run it better after only 45 yards against the Dukes and Winfield will as well, settling for only 23 yards on 15 carries.
"I thought he played really well," Desormeaux said of Winfield. "This was a really good atmosphere and I thought he handled it really well."
Williams saw the same thing in the huddle.
"He was resilient," Williams said of Winfield. "He didn't back down none. When it wasn't going our way at some point in the game, he stayed locked in with us. We let him down that we believe in him and we know he believes in us."
The numbers weren't as kind to the defense, but that unit hung in there against tall odds. JMU's offense ran 81 offensive plays to 57 for UL, creating a 13-minute edge in time of possession.
"I was really proud of the way the defense played," Desormeaux said. "It bounced back against a really good offense. They gave us a chance."
There was just a grit about the defense in this game that hasn't always been there this season. Most importantly, the defense forced two fumbles and picked off a pass.
"We really focused on punching the ball out," UL linebacker Jack St. Andre said. "We've kind of struggled with that so far, but we've been saying all year when they come, they come and bunches.
"So, yeah, definitely felt good to see that. I thought we played well. Everybody played hard, really got to the football and tackled better than we have."
Obviously all of this goodwill talk after a loss only matters if the Cajuns improved in certain areas - getting a few healthy bodies back - like leading rusher Zylan Perry - and take full advantage on not having to face James Madison's run defense over the next six games.
"We've got all the Western (division) games in front of us," Desormeaux said. "We need to keep building things around Lunch and get him to play well and play better for us. We've got to find a way to generate offense even on tough days."
The coach told his team after the game to remember that sick feeling in their guts and also make a mental note of the Bridgeforth Stadium surroundings.
The plan anyway is to return there in December.