At the midpoint of Louisville’s season, the Cardinals are living in two very different worlds. There’s the frustration of a 3-3 start, the sting of two upset losses, and a postseason picture that suddenly looks a lot tighter than anyone around the program wanted. But there’s also the kind of talent that still gives this roster a chance to matter in the second half - especially if last Friday night’s comeback over Florida State was the start of something real.
That win may have been the reset button Louisville needed. The offense went wild on the ground, piling up more than 400 rushing yards, with Isaac Brown ripping off 235 of them.
On the other side, the defense dug out of a 14-0 hole and allowed just six points the rest of the night, finishing the job with a goal-line stand. It was the kind of performance that can change the feel of a season.
Still, there’s no avoiding the math. Louisville has six regular-season games left and needs to win at least five just to finish with a respectable record.
Under Jeff Brohm, the Cardinals have won at least nine games every season since 2023, and keeping that streak alive now means running the table. That’s a tall order with UNC, Pitt and Kentucky waiting in the final three games.
Even with the uneven results, there have been bright spots. A few players have been better than expected. A few others need to sharpen up fast.
Lincoln Kienholz belongs in the first group.
He started the year carrying a lot of pressure for a quarterback with limited experience, and the first half against Ole Miss did little to quiet the doubts. But since then, Kienholz has settled in and more than held up his end of the bargain. He has gone head-to-head with, and at times outplayed, quarterbacks such as Trinidad Chambliss and Kevin Jennings.
The numbers back it up. Kienholz owns a 78.5 QBR, which places him inside the top 25 among qualified starters.
He’s ahead of projected first-round picks Dante Moore, Kevin Jennings and Arch Manning. He has completed 69.5% of his passes, averaged 10 yards per completion, thrown nine touchdown passes and only one interception.
He’s also added eight rushing touchdowns while averaging 3.2 yards per carry.
What stands out most is how much more comfortable he looks in Brohm’s offense every week. He has clearly grown as the season has gone on, and Louisville may not have seen the best version of him yet. If what we’ve seen so far is the baseline, the back half could get interesting.
Lawayne McCoy has also been a major surprise.
Tre Richardson was supposed to be the guy at receiver, the one to step into the WR1 role and follow in the footsteps of recent Brohm-era standouts like Jamari Thrash, Jacorey Brooks and Chris Bell. Richardson has produced solidly, with 29 catches for 445 yards and two scores. But McCoy has made this a true one-two punch instead of a clear-cut lead role.
He has 20 receptions for 420 yards and four touchdowns, and the explosion plays have been his calling card. His 21 yards per catch ranks seventh nationally, and he has hauled in a reception of at least 33 yards in five of Louisville’s six games.
When the Cardinals need a shot play or a key third-down conversion, McCoy has become one of Kienholz’s most trusted options. For a player many viewed as an afterthought before the season, he has looked every bit like a real top receiver.
On the other side of the ledger, Louisville’s secondary needs a response.
Kaleb Beasley has been excellent, and his four interceptions stand out. But as a unit, the back end has been a problem.
Louisville is 122nd among 138 FBS programs in pass defense, giving up 257 passing yards per game. The Cardinals have also been burned repeatedly by explosive completions, allowing 13 plays of at least 30 yards, six of 40-plus yards and four of 60-plus yards.
That’s the kind of damage that swings games. Louisville has spent too much time in close-game mode, and busted coverage or a big passing gain can turn a manageable situation into a chase.
Ten of the Cardinals’ last 11 losses have come by one possession, which only magnifies how costly those breakdowns have been. If Louisville is going to get itself pointed in the right direction, this is the area that has to improve.
Tyler Thompson is another player who has more to give.
He’s one of several defensive linemen who have yet to fully meet expectations, alongside AJ Green and Jerod Smith. Together, the three pass rushers have produced just 4.5 sacks. Thompson came over from UNC after posting seven sacks in 2025, with the idea that he could pair with Clev Lubin and give Louisville a dangerous edge tandem.
Instead, his first six games have produced 13 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Those aren’t empty numbers, but they fall short of what Louisville likely envisioned.
If Thompson can get back near the sack total he had last year, it would go a long way toward helping a defense that badly needs more pressure on the quarterback. With the secondary struggling the way it has, creating that kind of disruption up front could be one of Louisville’s best paths to a better second half.
In Other News...
Jeff Brohm's Louisville Vision Could Soon Feel A Lot More Real
The College Football Playoff is reportedly moving closer to a bigger field, with expansion from 12 teams to 24 starting in 2027 now seeming increasingly likely if the final approvals come through. For Louisville, that is more than a headline about the sports power structure. It is the kind of shift that can change how a program like Jeff Brohms is judged, because the Cardinals have already shown they can hang around the top of the ACC conversation when they are operating at a high level.
Brohm has made it clear since arriving in Louisville that the goal is not just relevance, but sustained contention, and a larger playoff would give that vision a little more breathing room. The Cardinals would still have to earn everything on the field, of course, but the path to the postseason could look less like a perfect-season-or-bust proposition and more like something a consistent ACC contender can realistically chase. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Offense Faces One Syracuse Weakness That Could Change Everything
Syracuses defense has taken a step forward under new coordinator Vince Kehres, the former Toledo assistant who has helped steady a unit that now looks more organized in several key areas. The Orange have been better against the pass and have gotten useful work from players such as Keyshawn Johnson, Tunmise Adeleye, Chris DAppolonia and Antoine Deslauriers, giving Louisville a sturdier challenge than it might have expected earlier in the season.
Even so, one vulnerability still hangs over the matchup, and it is the kind Louisvilles offense is built to test. Safety Chris Peal has had coverage issues, especially when the ball goes deep, leaving Syracuse with a spot the Cardinals can try to exploit if they push the field vertically and force the Oranges improved defense to hold up in the one area that has not fully settled in yet. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Enters The Season With More ACC Respect Than Fans Expected
Louisville is heading into the season with a little more league-wide respect than many around the program may have expected. The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the ACC preseason poll, and the conference coaches also gave the roster some notable individual recognition, placing junior forward Flory Bidunga on the Preseason All-ACC First Team and senior guard Jackson Shelstad on the Second Team.
For a team trying to turn preseason belief into something more lasting, that kind of placement matters. Bidunga and Shelstad give Louisville proven talent at two important spots, and their past production and honors help explain why the Cardinals are being viewed as more than just another upper-tier ACC team. The bigger question now is how quickly that attention turns into results once the games start. [Read more 🡒]