No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 24 Louisville open the season with the weekend’s only Top 25 showdown, and the matchup lands in Nashville with plenty of intrigue on both sides.
Ole Miss enters with a familiar edge and a new hand on the wheel. Pete Golding is set to guide the Rebels through his first full season as head coach in 2026 after taking over when Lane Kiffin left for LSU at the end of the regular season last year. Golding then pushed the Rebels all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
The challenge now is keeping that momentum rolling while replacing nothing and everything at once. Ole Miss brings back the kind of offense that can overwhelm people, finishing second nationally at nearly 490 yards per game. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy are both back to drive it.
Lacy is entering his junior year after piling up 1,567 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Chambliss arrived at Ole Miss last year after leading Ferris State to a Division II national title, then threw for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns on the way to a 13-2 record and an eighth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting.
Chambliss is back because of an injunction from a Mississippi district judge, who ruled the NCAA should have given him a sixth year of eligibility because respiratory problems caused by chronic tonsillitis kept him out for the entire 2022 season.
Louisville knows exactly what it’s walking into. Jeff Brohm described Ole Miss as "a proven team," and said Chambliss and Lacy each have the ability to win the Heisman this season.
"They're both really good," Brohm said. "They've proven that against good competition last year. This is a battle-tested team that played extremely well last year."
The Cardinals are coming off a 9-4 season, their third straight with at least nine wins. But a three-game skid in November knocked them off track and left them with unfinished business.
That’s part of why Louisville is being talked about as a dark-horse CFP team. Beating a highly ranked opponent like Ole Miss would go a long way toward strengthening that case.
Brohm, now in his fourth season at his alma mater and 13th overall as an FBS head coach, has already shown he can take down elite teams. Last season, Louisville went on the road Oct. 17 and beat then-No.
2 Miami - the same Miami team that beat Ole Miss 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.
Louisville’s identity usually starts on offense, but its defense carried real weight a year ago. The Cardinals finished 16th nationally in total defense, allowing 303.1 yards per game, and five starters are back. That group includes edge rusher Clev Lubin, who led the team with 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss.
Golding was direct about the challenge ahead.
"We'll have our work cut out for us," Golding said of Louisville's defense. "I would say the length on the edges and the athletic ability up front stand out. They look like an SEC football team."
On the other side, Louisville will again lean on a transfer to handle the offense. This time it’s Lincoln Kienholz, who arrives after three seasons as a backup at Ohio State.
The Cardinals also bring back two dangerous backs. Isaac Brown missed four games because of injuries but still ran for 884 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 8.8 yards per carry. Keyjuan Brown added 704 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry.
Ole Miss will look to a familiar defensive anchor of its own in defensive tackle Will Echoles, who had 5.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss last season.
In Other News...
Louisville May Get More Than Depth From This SEC Safety
TJ Banks arrives in Louisville with the kind of SEC background that tends to draw a little extra attention in the secondary. The junior defensive back from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, came out of high school as a recruit with plenty of options and ultimately landed at Ole Miss, where he first carved out a role on special teams before seeing his defensive workload grow in 2025, mostly at free safety.
For the Cardinals, the appeal goes beyond simple depth. Banks is expected to factor into the safety rotation, which gives Louisville another experienced body to lean on in the back end, but it also creates a subtle bonus for a staff always looking for any edge it can find. Having spent time in an SEC defense, Banks could also bring some useful familiarity with how Ole Miss has gone about things on that side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
Isaac Ellis Could Give Louisville A Freshman Spark Sooner Than Expected
Isaac Ellis has already become one of the more intriguing names in Louisvilles freshman class, and not just because of the buzz that tends to follow a guard who can score, defend and make plays. The 6-foot-1 freshman arrives with a reputation built at Overtime Elite, where his competitiveness and two-way impact helped him stand out, and Louisville coaches and players have been quick to point to the edge he brings as he gets his first look at college basketball.
For the Cardinals, the appeal is obvious: Ellis fits the kind of high-energy, disruptive guard play that can matter quickly if he adapts as expected. His path to campus also came earlier than originally planned, which only adds to the intrigue around how soon he might push for real minutes. Louisville does not need him to be a finished product right away, but if his practice habits translate, he could be the type of freshman who forces his way into the conversation sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Real Shot To Make A Week 1 Statement
No. 24 Louisville heads into Week 1 with a chance to make an immediate national impression against No. 9 Ole Miss, and the setup is as intriguing on the field as it is on the betting board. The Cardinals bring back the kind of continuity that matters in early-season games, including a steady roster base and coaching stability, while the Rebels arrive with plenty of their own talent and the usual SEC hype that tends to follow them into a matchup like this.
The defensive side could be the quiet separator here, especially in a game where both teams are still ironing out early-season timing and rhythm. Louisville has the profile of a team built to hang around and maybe do more than that, which is why this opener carries a little more weight than a standard September test. If the Cardinals can match Ole Miss possession for possession, it could become one of those rare Week 1 games that tells you something real about both programs right away. [Read more 🡒]