On a Sunday night in Nashville, the only ranked vs ranked team matchup of opening weekend became a 41-38 instant classic. No. 9 Ole Miss escaped on Lucas Carneiro’s 48-yard field goal as time expired. No. 24 Louisville walked off 0-1 and somehow looked better than the result.
The Cardinals spent the first half looking ordinary. They spent the second half looking like a problem. Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, making his first career start, finished 18-of-29 for 307 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, plus 68 rushing yards and a score. After Ole Miss pushed the lead to 38-24, Kienholz hit Lawayne McCoy for a 54-yard touchdown and then scored himself from 7 yards out with 1:28 left to tie it. The Cards put up 32 second-half points against a Playoff-caliber SEC roster.
That late rally was the impression. Not the sloppy first half. Not the walk-off kick. The fight. Jeff Brohm’s team refused to fold against a Heisman-caliber quarterback in Trinidad Chambliss and a program that reached last year’s College Football Playoff. Ole Miss coach Pete Golding called Louisville “a real football team” and noted its physicality. Cardinals players talked about hanging with a top-10 opponent and making their case for an ACC title run.
Poll voters noticed. Louisville stayed at No. 24 in the AP poll. In a Week 1 where most ranked teams played less competitive teams, the Cards chose the hard game, played it on national television, and lost by a kick at the buzzer. That is not how programs shrink. That is how they raise the bar.
Week 1 is over. The impression is not. Louisville is 0-1 and still very much in the playoff conversation.