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.”
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Huskies Escape Apple Cup With A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
Washington escaped the 118th Apple Cup with a win, but the 24-10 finish came with enough sloppiness to keep the postgame conversation from feeling particularly celebratory. The Huskies offense was stuck for much of the night before finally finding some rhythm in the fourth quarter, and the teams penalty total - 130 yards worth - made an already uneven performance look even rougher.
Kalen DeBoer had little interest in dressing it up during the game, especially when Washington kept leaving yards on the field near the goal line. For a team that still found a way to beat Washington State, the issue now is not whether the Huskies can point to the final score, but whether they can clean up the kind of mistakes that tend to matter a lot more once the margin gets tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Suddenly Has A Running Back Problem It Cant Ignore
Washingtons backfield took a significant hit in the Apple Cup, when Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar both went down with injuries against Washington State. The timing is rough for a Huskies offense that had been trying to settle into a rhythm, and now the running back room suddenly looks a lot thinner than it did just a week ago.
The immediate challenge is depth, and Washington will have to lean on Trey Cooley, Brian Bonner and a few other backs to keep the position moving forward. Carr is headed for surgery, while both players are expected to miss an extended period, leaving the Huskies to piece together a rotation without knowing exactly when either runner might be available again. [Read more 🡒]