College football 2020: Ranking the 3 worst losses from Week 2

2. No. 23 Iowa State shocked by Louisiana

The first loss from the Big 12 came from one of its most valuable teams. The Cyclones were expected to come out with a decisive victory to show why they were in serious contention for the Big 12 title. Instead, they fell back in the middle of the pack behind Texas and Oklahoma State.

The Cyclones were hosting one of the more dangerous teams from the Group of Five in the Ragin’ Cajuns. Louisiana returned the key players that helped them account for the sixth-ranked rushing offense (257.6 rushing yards per game) last season. The Cyclones were well aware of the caliber of Ragin’ Cajuns’ running backs Elijah Mitchell and Trey Ragas.

What they didn’t into account was defending a more established passing game of the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Cyclones allowed 154 passing yards. The Cyclones were 7-for-16 on third downs where they were forced to go short-yardage situations without their star tight end Charlie Kolar playing. The Cyclones’ offensive line allowed three sacks and seven tackles for loss.

The offense for Iowa State only had 99 total yards and only converted 2-for-8 on third downs in the second half. Iowa State allowed 21 points in the second half with 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Iowa State’s bad upset takes them out of the top 25 and likely out of the College Football Playoff conversation unless it wins out. Much like Kansas State, the Cyclones are in control of their destiny for the Big 12 title. They have enough to potentially compete for the conference title and beat the heavily-favored Oklahoma Sooners. They will learn from this bad loss as they will start conference play on Sept. 26 at TCU.