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NAIA school pulls off historic upset over D1 school to start CFB season
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- NAIA school pulls off historic upset over D1 school to start CFB season
The Louisiana Christian Wildcats upset the Northwestern State Demons, 42-37 , on Thursday night to kick off the 2026 college football season.
You're probably not familiar with either of those schools, so here's why that's noteworthy. LCU is an NAIA school with fewer than 1,000 undergraduates. Northwestern State University of Louisiana has over 5,000 and plays in the Southland Conference.
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This was just the second time in history an NAIA program beat a Division I program. The University of Sioux Falls downed Division I North Dakota in 2009 as the Fighting Hawks transitioned from Division II to Division I and didn't yet offer full scholarships.
A look at the box score is a great reminder for any football team to try and take better care of the ball. Northwestern State had more first downs than LCU, 29 to 19. The Demons also had more yards through the air (341 to 183) and on the ground (184 to 164). And they won the time of possession by more than 13 minutes.
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The statistical categories where Louisiana Christian came out on top are the most important ones. They had fewer penalties and penalty yards. And they forced three turnovers while only giving the ball away once. That's a perfect recipe for an upset.
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The offensive hero for LCU was running back Datlan Cunningham, who rushed for 117 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. Safety Jaden Jones had 13 tackles on defense.
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Northwestern State's recent troubles
While Louisiana Christian has won its regular-season conference championship twice in the last three seasons, Northwestern State's program has experienced some rough years.
The Demons won their season opener over Alcorn last season but then lost their final 11 games. In 2024, they went 0-12. They haven't had a .500 season since 2014.
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And the low point for the program happened in 2023, when junior Ronnie Caldwell was shot and killed . In the wake of that tragic event the school canceled the rest of the season, and coach Brad Laird resigned. The coach and school were both named in a wrongful death lawsuit .
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