Sunday’s college football tripleheader delivered the kind of chaos only Week 1 can produce, and the most entertaining game of the day came in Oxford, where Ole Miss survived Louisville 41-38 in a wild finish that featured big throws, a late rally, and a walk-off kick.
Trinidad Chambliss was the center of it all. ABC’s broadcast opened with Katie George revisiting his courtroom battle last winter for an extra year of eligibility, and after what followed, Mississippi Judge Robert Whitwell probably earned a few new fans.
The former Division II transfer looked every bit like a quarterback who had already been through a College Football Playoff run, throwing three deep touchdowns with pinpoint placement and adding another score on the ground. He finished with 397 yards of offense.
Ole Miss needed every bit of it. Kewan Lacy left in the third quarter with an injury, and the Rebels’ defense spent much of the second half looking slow and out of position. Even with Chambliss shining, Pete Golding’s team came dangerously close to coughing it up after losing several of its best players to the portal, and Sunday did not exactly quiet the doubts about whether this group can get back to the CFP.
Louisville, though, made it a fight. Jeff Brohm’s new quarterback, Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, arrived with a mystery wrapped around his name after his only real action had come as a third-string freshman in Ohio State’s 2023 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri.
He looked shaky early, but the second half told a different story. Kienholz hit touchdown passes of 62 and 54 yards, then ran in a seven-yard score to tie the game and help the Cardinals erase a 38-24 deficit with 1:28 left.
That comeback still wasn’t enough, because Ole Miss has Lucas Carneiro. The same kicker who drilled both a 56-yard and a 58-yard field goal in January’s CFP games knocked through a 48-yarder at the buzzer to win it. Louisville entered the year as an ACC sleeper, and if Kienholz keeps playing like this, the Cardinals will be right in the thick of the conference race.
In South Bend, Notre Dame spent one half making people sweat before taking complete control. The No.
4 Irish led Wisconsin 13-10 at the break, and the run game wasn’t doing much to ease concerns. By the end, though, Notre Dame had rolled to a 41-13 win.
There was a useful glimpse here of what the offense could look like after Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Aneyas Williams took over as the lead back and finished with 90 yards on 20 carries, while Nolan James Jr. turned two short CJ Carr throws into 28-yard gains, with the second becoming a touchdown.
The defining defensive play belonged to one of Notre Dame’s most important newcomers. Colorado cornerback DJ McKinney jumped a pass and returned it 55 yards for a pick six, and that was the moment the game opened up. It wasn’t the kind of statement LSU made, but it was still a good sign for the Irish.
Wisconsin had a few flashes from its new quarterback, Colton Joseph, the Old Dominion transfer. He connected on a 28-yard touchdown to Malachi Coleman, who came over from Minnesota, but the Badgers just couldn’t string enough plays together to stay on schedule. The positive for Luke Fickell is that the schedule is far more manageable this season.
The Apple Cup still has a place on the calendar, and that matters. But the latest edition felt a little less like a classic rivalry game and a little more like a messy Big Ten team trying to finish off a G6 opponent.
No. 16 Washington won 24-10 despite 130 penalty yards and an uneven day from Demond Williams Jr.
Williams still made a couple of key plays when it mattered, including a slick 21-yard run and a successful flea-flicker with a little more than two minutes left to help seal it. Washington State, now under its third head coach in three seasons with Kirby Moore, might still be better than expected in its return to the “Pac-12.”
In Other News...
Louisville Saw Enough From Lincoln Keinholz To Fuel A Bigger Question
Lincoln Keinholzs first start for Louisville gave the Cardinals a real opening to assess where they stand at quarterback, and there was plenty to like in the way he settled in against Mississippi. The debut came in a high-scoring opener that asked a lot of him early, and he responded better as the game went on, showing clear progress in the second half as Louisville hung around in a back-and-forth matchup.
Jeff Brohm left the night with a familiar mix of encouragement and concern, praising the way his team competed while also pointing to the need for more plays against quality opponents. For Louisville, the bigger question now is not just what Keinholz showed in the opener, but how much of that performance can carry over when the schedule tightens and the margin for error shrinks. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Just Found A Quarterback Fans Can Dream On
Louisville came up just short in its Week 1 battle with Ole Miss, but the game still offered a glimpse of something the program has been searching for at quarterback. Lincoln Kienholz, the 4-star transfer from Ohio State making his first start, settled in quickly and gave the Cardinals a legitimate dual-threat presence, throwing for 307 yards while adding 69 on the ground.
The debut mattered because it showed Louisville more than survived a tough opening test against a ranked opponent, it found a passer who can tilt a game with both his arm and legs. Kienholzs production also put him in a rare category for the program, with the kind of early return that can change the feel around an offense even in a loss, and now the bigger question is how far that carryover can go once the schedule keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Just Took A Painful Recruiting Hit At Center
Louisvilles frontcourt recruiting board took a hit when five-star center Darius Wabbington backed away from the program, ending a run that had the Cardinals among his final six schools. Wabbington, one of the top centers in the country, had been scheduled to make an official visit on Sept. 11, but that stop is now off the calendar as Louisville loses ground in a pursuit that once looked promising.
The timing makes the setback sting a little more, because the Cardinals are still trying to stay active with another elite big man in Lewis Uvwo. Louisville has made a late push there, but Duke is currently out front, leaving the Cardinals searching for a way to recover from one miss while trying to keep another high-end option within reach. [Read more 🡒]