Pete Golding on Week 1 Matchup vs Louisville : "They Look Like an SEC Team."

We are coming down the homestretch to the start of the 2026 season with a huge opportunity looming for Louisville football. The Cards head into Sunday night’s matchup winless vs AP-ranked teams in season openers (0-7).

For Louisville to get that elusive opening win over a ranked team, they will have to get through No. 9 Ole Miss and first year head coach Pete Golding.

Although Sunday will be Golding’s first game as a head coach, he has a wealth of experience as a defensive coordinator in the SEC. He was the defensive coordinator for Nick Saban and Alabama from 2018-2022, winning a national championship in 2020. In 2022 Golding was arrested for DUI and would not coach that fall.

Lane Kiffin picked Golding up to be his defensive coordinator at Ole Miss in January of 2023. Over his three seasons with the Rebels, their defense has held opponents to an average of 18.5 points per game & 330.8 yards.

On November 30, 2025, Golding was appointed the 40th head coach of Ole Miss football as Kiffin departed for conference foe LSU. His first task? Guide Ole Miss in the school’s first playoff appearance in 2025. He would go 2-1 as the head coach, beating Tulane in the first round and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before falling in a heartbreaker to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

Golding met with the media ahead of the Labor Day weekend matchup and had this to say about the Cardinals:

What challenges does the Louisville defense present the Rebels dynamic offense?

“Number one is the way they affect the quarterback. They’re really athletic and long on the edges. Both of those guys coming back combined for double-digit sacks last year. They play the game really violently. I think their nickel is a really good player and does a really good job in the run game. They give you a lot of different looks while still keeping things simple. Their guys play extremely fast, and they’re physical.

We have to protect the football. That’s always the No. 1 concern in Game 1 when a lot of these guys haven’t been live. With their edges, both in the run game and passing game, we have to control the edges. We have to get the ball in space to our guys, but we also have to slow the game down and run the football effectively when we need to. They’re going to challenge you with how they line up, the run pressures and things like that. They were really good against the pass last year. I think they led the ACC in pass defense.

We’ll have our work cut out for us. The length on the edges and the athletic ability up front stand out. They look like an SEC football team.”

Golding is referencing Louisville’s three-headed monster at EDGE for this season. Clev Lubin returns for The Ville and posted 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss last season. AJ Green returns opposite of Lubin & he had 4.0 sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss in 2025. UNC transfer Tyler Thompson comes in off a season with 7.0 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss for the Tar Heels. The entire trio is ranked in the top eight returning pass rushers in the ACC according to PFF.

How important is running back depth in this game?

“It’s complementary football. A lot of that depends on whether you can run the football. Are you ahead of the chains or behind the sticks in an obvious passing down with those guys teeing off, disguising coverages and playing different things? Staying ahead of the chains, staying balanced like they are offensively and taking what people give you are going to be really important based on the looks, box counts and certain matchups.

This is no different than an SEC game to me when you watch them on tape. From a head-coaching standpoint with Brohm and how well he coaches, and the team they have, you better be able to run the football. You have to stop the run. They have an elite running back, and they have a really good front. To me, this is an SEC game. You have to be able to run the football, stop the run, take care of the football, win the turnover battle and play really well in critical situations, or you aren’t going to like the outcome.”

Ole Miss returns star running back Kewan Lacy from last year’s playoff team. Lacy carried the ball 306 times for 1,567 yards and 24 scores in 2025. They bring in Joshua Dye who was a first-team All American at the FCS level playing for Southern Utah a season ago. He accumulated 1,831 yards on 295 carries. Makhi Frazier is a Michigan State transfer that had 520 rushing yards & finished fourth on the team in all-purpose yards.

Louisville returns Isaac Brown, who had 884 yards on 101 carries, leading the nation with 8.8 yards per carry in 2025. Third in the country in yards per carry was his backfield mate Keyjuan Brown averaging 7.3 yards per carry on 96 carries for 704 yards.

The running back units are the highlight of each team and whichever team is able to establish their running game should ultimately prevail.

How do you prepare for Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz?

“I think it’s a combination of a couple of things. Obviously, from an athletic standpoint and looking at his skill set, you go back to previous tape where you can actually see him play the game as a dual-threat guy, his arm strength and all those things.

But I think you also go back and look at when Brohm has had a first-year starter at the position. What does that look like early in the season? Is it the full menu for him? Is it specific things? We know he’s a super-talented kid. Obviously, he was recruited by everybody in the country coming out of high school. He was in a really good program and was coached really well.

We’ve talked to guys from where he came from, and a lot of really good things have been said about the kid and how competitive he is. Then you try to do your research throughout camp. You read all the press clippings and get guys reading what y’all put out there, trying to get some information. I have a lot of respect for Brohm and have for a long time. He does a really good job offensively of sequencing plays and playing to his players’ strengths.”

Kienholz will be making his first collegiate start after spending the previous three seasons in the quarterback room for Ohio State. He was all-state & lettered in football, basketball and baseball in South Dakota and was named USA Today’s National Athlete of the Year in 2023.

During his time in Columbus, he was 21-36 through the air for 250 yards and a touchdown, while accumulating 68 rushing yards and 17 attempts with two scores. Coach Jeff Brohm is excited for the athleticism and dual-threat capabilities Kienholz brings to Louisville.

Golding and Brohm have been very complimentary of each other’s programs in the preseason, as they should. The matchup between the No. 24 Cardinals and the No. 9 Cardinals is college football’s only ranked matchup of week one. Toe meets leather at 7:30 EST Sunday night and ABC has the television coverage.

Add us as a preferred source on Google