College football’s first Power 5 weekend of 2020 gifts fans with upsets galore

Louisiana upsets No. 23 Iowa State on the road

The first quarter for both teams was sloppy offensively as neither was able to put any points on the board. The second quarter was another story as both were able to find the endzone.

Kene Nwangwu put the Cyclones on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run and with the extra point by Connor Assalley, Iowa State was leading 7-0. However, on the ensuing kickoff, Chris Smith of Louisiana ran back a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to tie up the game at 7-7.

Just before halftime, Breece Hall of the Cyclones took the ball 11 yards in for the touchdown to give Iowa State the lead at 14-7. Head coach Matt Campbell was feeling good about his team at this point and hoping to go into halftime with a 7-point lead. The Ragin’ Cajuns had other ideas and marched down the field and Nate Snyder connected on a 30-yard field goal to trim the Iowa State lead to only four points entering the second half.

The most surprising thing about the second half was the lack of offense by Iowa State star quarterback Brock Purdy. The second most shocking aspect about the second half was how Louisiana was able to score in multiple facets against the Cyclones. Late in the third quarter, Peter LeBlanc caught a 78-yard touchdown pass from Levi Lewis. The Ragin’ Cajuns were not done yet as the entered the fourth quarter with a 3-point lead.

Entering the fourth, Iowa State only had a field goal deficit. However, despite a strong performance by Hall in the run game, Iowa State could not produce any points in the quarter. The Cyclones’ special teams continued to underperform as Louisiana’s Eric Garror returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a double-digit lead.

Iowa State couldn’t stop Louisiana’s offense and the Cyclones couldn’t effectively move the ball against the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense to end the game.

Louisiana, late in the game, marched down the field as Iowa State who had two timeouts and refused to use them as the Ragin’ Cajuns scored a touchdown in the final minute to end the game with a final score 31-14.

It was a historic victory for Louisiana and their football program. And if the Ragin’ Cajuns can win out and go undefeated, in this uncertain season, the sky is the limit for them in 2020.