Northwestern State was on the wrong end of college football history with its loss to Lousiana Christian on Thursday night. The Demons lost to an NAIA team as a Division I scholarship program.
As far as I can tell, it is the third time ever.
If we are to crunch the numbers, this can be considered the worst loss of all-time. The enrollment differential between these two college football programs is astonishing.
Louisiana Christian defeated Northwestern State.
Founded in 1906, Louisiana Christian University is a private Baptist school in Pineville, Louisiana with a total enrollment of less than 1,000 students. That includes ~750 undergraduates and ~150 postgraduates.
The Wildcats compete as members of the Sooner Athletic Conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The NAIA is not affiliated with the NCAA. For all intents and purposes, it is the Low-A baseball equivalent of college football. Top NAIA programs are more or less on par with high-tier Division III programs.
Louisiana Christian traveled 60 miles north to Natchitoches on Thursday night. It begin the 2026 college football season at Northwestern State University as a two-score underdog.
The Demons are a Division I FCS program. They have been terrible in recent years. Northwestern State went 1-29 over the last three seasons. It has not finished with a winning record since 2008 and has not finished at .500 since 2013 and 2014.
The Wildcats ultimately proved victorious by a final score of 42-37.
Louisiana Christian becomes the first NAIA program to beat a scholarship Division 1 program in College Football history, as they defeat Northwestern State in Natchitoches
— Carter Lowe CFB 🦡 (@carterjlowe) August 28, 2026
Update: Second. The broadcast said multiple times that was the case but Sioux Falls over UND was indeed the… pic.twitter.com/I2GU1mpqh8
It is one of the worst losses in college football history. Lets break it down.
NAIA programs rarely defeat Division I scholarship programs in college football.
There are approximately 106 players on the Louisiana Christian football team. There are 936 students in total with approximately 524 of them male. That means one in every nine students is on the football team and one in every five male students is on the football team. Northwestern State has nearly seven times as many students!
The Wildcats trailed the Demons 27-14 late in the second quarter. They capitalized on a pair of red-zone fumbles and a slew of penalties to storm back during the second half and pull the upset.
Louisiana Christian (previously Louisiana College) currently has FCS Northwestern St (LA) on the ropes late in the 3rd QTR!
— CouchCru 🛋 (@CouchCru17) August 28, 2026
Louisiana College was in the American Southwest Conference for 21 years until 2020 & are currently competing in the NAIA. GO CATS! pic.twitter.com/PemEJ5jW12
It was the biggest win in school history.
It was also one of the biggest upsets in college football history. The NAIA has less than 15 all-time wins against Division I opponents, which becomes even more rare against scholarship programs.
As far as I can tell, only three NAIA teams have wins against Division I scholarship programs— including Louisiana Christian over Northwestern State. (It was not the first win as initially reported.)
Presbyterian College defeated the Citadel in 1979. Kalen DeBoer, current head coach at Alabama, led Sioux Falls to a win over North Dakota in 2009. The Wildcats beat the Demons on Thursday.
Louisiana Christian has the smallest enrollment of those three NAIA schools. Therefore, Northwestern State suffered the worst loss in FCS history.