I watched the ISU-ULL game last night and it seemed like a perfect storm for ISU. It was an ugly first game back from a long covid break that was decided on three plays. Both offenses stank, which isn't surprising given the circumstances. ISU gave up 257 yards of offense including 78 yards on one play. The defense essentially quit on the last drive when the game was over anyway. Otherwise, they physically dominated ULL as you'd expect. Take away the long TD pass and the last drive of the game and ULL's offense got its ass kicked.
On the other side, ISU's offense stank. The line sucked, the play-calling sucked, Purdy really sucked. The interception wasn't totally his fault, but he had some terrible throws that should have been picked off. When he was on target, the receivers dropped the ball. ULL's defense, particularly the secondary, played well as evidenced by ISU's 297 yards of offense. But none of their guys stood out and they weren't doing anything special scheme-wise. They didn't kick ISU's ass. It was more like our offense circa 2014 - ISU's line missed assignments on play after play, receivers whiffed on blocks, etc. ULL was good enough to take advantage of the mistakes and even cause of few. That said, they seemed like a bunch of well coached JAGs. They out ISU'd ISU.
There's nothing at all scary about ULL and they need help to win. If Strong or Herman were still around, we'd probably oblige them. I'm hoping Sark isn't as charitable. Our defense should absolutely murder their offense. It's the first game of the year under a new-ish system so I'm sure we'll have some busted plays and probably give up a couple of scores. If we don't shoot ourselves in the dick multiple times on offense and special teams this should be a comfortable win.