Breaking Down Louisville's Strengths & Weaknesses & 1 Thing That Could Upset Ole Miss

Maybe the most inconsistent team in college football last year, the Louisville Cardinals take on the Ole Miss Rebels week one of the season for a neutral site matchup in Nashville, Tennessee.

The 2025 Cardinals showed all the signs of being great and making a push for the CFP. In a rocky, up-and-down conference like the ACC, Louisville was a dark horse for conference winners. Starting off 4-0, including a win versus the future G5 CFP winner James Madison, the Cardinals fell to then-ranked No. 24 Virginia Cavaliers.

Despite last week's home loss in OT to Virginia, the Cardinals headed to Miami to take on the No. 2 team in the nation at the time. With a win versus the second-best team in the nation, it seemed the Cardinals were destined to win out with no real challenge in front of them.

Until two weeks after the Miami win, they went across the other side of the country and lost in overtime to the unranked California Golden Bears.

Even after having two wins and beating Miami, the ACC window stayed wide open and still winnable for the Cardinals. After this OT loss, Louisville traveled back home and lost to Clemson and another loss to SMU. With four losses, the Cardinals had one last game to take their anger out on, and they chose in-state rival Kentucky, beating the Wildcats 41-0.

Why Louisville is dangerous

Louisville Cardinals running back Isaac Brown celebrates with fans in the end zone after a big fourth-quarter touchdown run against James Madison | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Louisville's team structure will be relatively the same in 2026 as it was in 25. Head Coach Jeff Brohm is still in office and bringing back almost all of the offensive staff while promoting defensive line coach Mark Ivey to defensive coordinator after helping the Cardinals to a top 20 nationally ranked defense.

Key offensive returning players include running back Issac Brown, All-ACC 2025, Tre Richardson, a wide receiver transfer from Vanderbilt who racked up 806 yards and seven touchdowns, and transfer quarterback Lincoln Kienholz from Ohio State, who will likely win the starting job.

A top 20 defensive unit last year sees its top playmaker returning in Clev Lubin. Lubin, a junior defensive end, racked up 13.5 TFL’s and 8.5 sacks in 2025. At the linebacker position, Stanquan Clark is the returning starter, and T.J. Banks is the returning defensive back.

Top strength for the Cardinals in 2026 will be the defensive front and linebacker core. The weakness will be a whole new revamped offense with a new transfer quarterback who has just 139 career passing yards.

What the Rebels need to watch out for and not be surprised by is how much the Cardinals blitz. Lots of six-man pressure packages out of the Cardinals' front make for lots of third-down blitzes. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebel offense will have to adjust and adapt play action in order to counter the Louisville blitz.

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