NCAAF Game Recap - Louisiana at Iowa State
Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:00 PM EDT

Clem
37
Wake
13
F
MoStU
0
Okla
48
F
Duke
13
ND
27
F
UTEP
3
Tex
59
F
Syr
6
UNC
31
F
ULLaf
31
IASt
14
F
UAB
14
MiaFL
31
F
UNCC
20
App
35
F
ArkSt
35
K St
31
F
E Ky
10
WVU
56
F
ULMon
7
Army
37
F
GATec
16
FlaSt
13
F
UTSA
51
TxSt
48
F(1OT)
Camp
26
GaSo
27
F
APSU
0
Pitt
55
F
Cit
6
SoFL
27
F
Tul
27
SoAl
24
F
HBU
33
TxTch
35
F
W Ky
21
Lou
35
F
CoCar
38
Kans
23
F

Sep 12, 2020, 12:00 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Louisiana (1-0)

0

10

7

14

31

(23) Iowa State (0-1)

0

14

0

0

14

Ragin' Cajuns beat No. 23 Iowa St 31-14; 1st Top 25 road win
Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:27 PM

AMES, Iowa (AP) Perseverance, confidence and two long kick returns propelled Louisiana-Lafayette to one of its biggest wins in program history, 31-14 win over No. 23 Iowa State on Saturday.

The Ragin' Cajuns beat a Top 25 opponent on the road for the first time, having gone 0-26 against ranked foes away from home. Their only other win over a Top 25 team was in 1996 at home against Texas A&M.

"We've got a lot of belief that the University of Louisiana should always have a competitive team," coach Billy Napier said. "We're fortunate we got the necessary things from our administration. They decided they wanted to have an exceptional Group of Five football program. They gave us the money to go hire the people, they've given us the resources inside the building to really run a Power Five operation. This is what we expected to happen."

Both offenses seemed overmatched at times, but the Ragin' Cajuns were ignited by Chris Smith's 95-yard kickoff return in the second quarter and Eric Garror's 83-yard punt return in the fourth.

Levi Lewis added a 78-yard touchdown pass to Peter LeBlanc, giving Louisiana-Lafayette a 17-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Lewis passed for 154 yards and contributed to a business-like approach by the Ragin' Cajuns, who didn't celebrate much on the field after the game.

"All because we expect that," Lewis said. "The type of work we put in, the hours. All of us pretty much say our practices are harder than the games."

The Ragin' Cajuns limited Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy to 16-of-35 passing for 145 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception. It was ISU's fewest passing yards in two years.

"We dropped some balls that are difference makers in the first half and early in the second half," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "Getting into a really good rhythm was hard to find."

Iowa State's Breece Hall rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

The Cyclones' offense sputtered early with a series of dropped passes before putting together consecutive touchdown drives of 49 and 69 yards.

Smith put Louisiana-Lafayette on the board immediately after Iowa State's first score. The Ragin' Cajuns drove 61 yards in the final 70 seconds of the first half, pulling within 14-10 on Nate Snyder's 30-yard field goal.

"Give credit to their team," Campbell said. "A really veteran football team that came in here and in the second half just really dominated the game."

The Ragin' Cajuns, like other teams across the country, had stops and starts with preparations since the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic. The last month has been especially difficult. Assistant coach D.J. Looney died of a heart attack on Aug. 1, and Hurricane Laura devastated parts of Louisiana in late August.

"I can't help but think my man D.J. is up there smiling right now," Napier said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Iowa State: The Cyclone offense was hampered by the absence of tight end Charlie Kolar, who caught 51 passes and scored seven touchdowns last season. He was out with a lower body injury. Right guard Robert Hudson also missed the game.

Louisiana-Layette: The Ragin' Cajuns were able to knock off the Cyclones despite two missed field goals by transfer kicker Nate Snyder and a struggling ground game. Louisiana-Lafayette averaged 6.3 yards per rush last season while totaling 3,604 yards. Iowa State limited the Ragin' Cajuns to 2.7 yards on 22 attempts through the first three quarters.

BRIGHT DAY FOR THE SUN BELT

Around the same time Louisiana-Lafayette was beating Iowa State, Arkansas State was shocking Kansas State, another Big 12 member.

"You can't underestimate a Sun Belt Conference team anymore," Napier said. "It's become a normal thing. You put a Sun Belt team on your schedule, you better watch out."

DOWN TRENDS

Iowa State is 4-20 when trailing after three quarters under Campbell. The Cyclones are also 8-16 with a negative turnover margin. They had two turnovers against Louisiana-Lafayette; the Ragin' Cajuns had none.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Iowa State began the season ranked for a second straight year, but will likely drop out of the poll this week. The Cyclones were 3-0 all-time against Sun Belt Conference opponents and listed as double-digit favorites going into Saturday's game.

UP NEXT

Iowa State visits TCU on Sept. 26.

Louisiana-Lafayette visits Georgia State on Sept. 19.

---

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

ULLaf Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
L. Lewis 21 13 61.9 1 154 78 0 100.1
IASt Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
B. Purdy 35 16 45.7 0 145 16 1 45.5

Rushing

ULLaf Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Ragas 14 49 3.5 15 1
E. Mitchell 8 46 5.8 19 0
IASt Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
B. Hall 20 103 5.2 19 1
B. Purdy 7 35 5.0 15 0

Receiving

ULLaf Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
P. LeBlanc 5 82 16.4 78 1
J. Williams 2 22 11.0 12 0
IASt Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
X. Hutchinson 4 43 10.8 16 0
S. Shaw Jr. 3 34 11.3 15 0

Fumbles

IASt F FL
B. Hall 1 1

Returning

ULLaf KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
C. Smith 3 45.7 1 95 0 0 0
E. Garror 0 0 0 3 29.7 1 0
IASt KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
K. Nwangwu 3 23.0 0 34 0 0 0
D. Miller Jr. 0 0 0 2 -4.0 0 0

Punting

ULLaf Punt Yds Avg LgPu
R. Byrns 5 210 42.0 48
IASt Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Rivera 5 216 43.2 56

Takeaways

ULLaf Int Yds InTD
A. Washington 1 0 0
P. Butler 0 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

ULLaf IASt
Points For 31 14
Total Yards 272 303
Rushing Yards 118 158
Passing Yards 154 145
Passing Completions / Attempts 13/21 16/35
Turnovers 0 2
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 2/1
First Downs 14 18
Penalties - Yards 2/22 3/24
Time Of Possession 41:41 19:19
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 6/14 7/16
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/1 1/3
Punts - Average Yards 0/0 0/0

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter ULLaf IASt
No scores this quarter
2nd Quarter ULLaf IASt
IASt 10:32 TD Kene Nwangwu 1 yd run (Connor Assalley kick) 0 7
ULLaf 10:46 TD Chris Smith 95 yd kick return (Nate Snyder kick) 7 7
IASt 13:43 TD Breece Hall 11 yd run (Connor Assalley kick) 7 14
ULLaf 15:00 FG Nate Snyder 30 yd FG 10 14
3rd Quarter ULLaf IASt
ULLaf 12:58 TD Peter LeBlanc 78 yd pass from Levi Lewis (Kenneth Almendares kick) 17 14
4th Quarter ULLaf IASt
ULLaf 01:02 TD Eric Garror 83 yd punt return (Kenneth Almendares kick) 24 14
ULLaf 14:50 TD Trey Ragas 2 yd run (Kenneth Almendares kick) 31 14

Game Information

Stadium: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
Attendance: 0
Game Time:
Weather: