Iowa State Football: 3 overreactions from upset loss to Louisiana

2. Offense is doomed without Charlie Kolar

A “lower-body injury” kept All-American receiver Charlie Kolar from the field on Saturday against Louisiana and while that was a massive loss for the Iowa State offense, no one expected that it would completely ruin the pass game.

The bright spot on offense was Breece Hall against the Ragin’ Cajuns as he had over 100 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

The not-so-bright spot? The passing game. Brock Purdy was searching for that clear No. 1 receiver and without Kolar, he couldn’t find one. If his star tight end was healthy, he would have had an extra weapon for the defense to focus on and he’d still get his targets, but Louisiana was able to focus on some inexperienced receivers as none had more than four catches.

Xavier Hutchinson led the way with four catches for 43 yards, Sean Shaw Jr. had three receptions for 34 yards and Chase Allen had two catches for 31 yards. No other receiver broke the 30-yard mark.

This offense might be in serious trouble without Kolar taking some pressure off the receiving corps.