Crushing Louisville football defeat came with glorious Lincoln Kienholz silver lining

Louisville football comes up just short as the Cardinals lose in the final seconds to the Ole Miss Rebels by a score of 41-38. On Sunday night, the Cardinals put up a gritty fight, coming back in the fourth quarter after trailing by 14 with under seven minutes remaining.

Louisville tied it up with just 1:28 remaining, but wasn’t able to stop Trinidad Chambliss and this offense one last time, as the Rebels marched down the field and kicked a game-winning 48-yard field goal. There are no moral victories in football, and Louisville fans know that, but if there were a silver lining, it would be the Cardinals quarterback, Lincoln Kienholz.

Lincoln Kienholz has a massive debut for Louisville

It was a tale of two halves for the Ohio State transfer. In the first half, Kienholz had the jitters and was clearly uncomfortable, forcing throws and missing a few. Louisville was held to just 83 total yards in the first half, which was the second-fewest under Jeff Brohm, and Kienholz was 0-for-6 on passes 10-plus yards downfield.

However, the 4-star transfer clearly got more comfortable after halftime and put on an impressive second half. Entering the game, everyone knew it would take time for Kienholz to get comfortable, as he hadn’t started a game since his senior year of high school, and once he was comfortable, it was a beautiful sight.

Kienholz finished the game throwing 18-of-29 for 307 passing yards, 69 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown. The Ohio State transfer came up big-time in the fourth quarter, where he showed his ability to escape the pressure and throw on the run, including a great ball to Florida State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, which turned into a 54-yard touchdown.

Following a defensive stop, the Cardinals got the ball back only down seven with 3 minutes remaining, and Kienholz led a seven-play, 77-yard drive and finished it off with a seven-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw. The Cardinals tied the game with just 1:28 remaining, and Kienholz once again showed his ability to escape pressure and throw on the run when he found Isaac Brown streaking down the sideline for a 32-yard pass, which led to the tying touchdown.

The Cardinals need to fix the little things like the penalties, special teams, and just unforced errors, but Louisville fans are feeling confident about their new QB1. The Cardinals losing on a last-second kick is gut-wrenching, and there aren’t moral victories in sports. But this is only Week 1, and the Cardinals' silver lining is their new star quarterback, who has the potential to be a star in this league.

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