Louisiana Christian Makes History as 1st NAIA Team to Beat NCAA D-I Team, HC Talks Upset on Video

The 2026 college football season is already off to a historic start after Louisiana Christian became the first NAIA team to defeat a Division-I program.

Louisiana Christian stunned Northwestern State, 42-37, on Thursday night at Harry Turpin Stadium.

Wildcats head coach Ben McLaughlin reacted to the historic victory by giving praise to his players and coaching staff for executing the game plan and never wavering even when it looked like the game might be slipping away.

Per Stephen Douglas of the Big Lead, LCU has fewer than 1,000 undergraduate students compared to more than 5,000 for Northwestern State.

Northwestern State has played in the Southland Conference since 1987.

After Jaterrius Johnson put Louisiana Christian up 14-13 with a two-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, Northwestern State responded with back-to-back touchdowns to take a 27-13 lead.

That looked like it was the turning point the Demons needed, as that score held going into halftime.

Instead, LCU got right back into it thanks to Datlan Cunningham's 37-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter. The Demons retook the lead four plays later on Ernest Mitchell's pick-six.

A Northwestern State field goal on the ensuing possession made it 30-28 in favor of the home team, but the next three series proved to be the difference in the game.

Louisiana Christian got a touchdown, followed by a defensive stand to force a turnover on downs and then another score on Bryce Perkins' 52-yard touchdown pass to Omarius Davis that made it 42-30 with 14:20 left to play.

The two teams punted four times on the next four possessions before Northwestern State was able to get within 42-37 with 2:47 remaining.

Louisiana Christian recovered Northwestern State's onside-kick attempt, picked up two first downs, including one on a 16-yard run from Cunningham on third-and-13, to run out the clock.