Former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Lincoln Kienholz has sky-high expectations during the 2026 College Football season. CBS Sports' Cody Nagel set the bar high for the Louisville Cardinals, his new team, high enough to win nine games, or at least be favored to win nine games.
Per Nagel, "There's a real case that Louisville should be favored in all nine of their ACC games this season -- credit Bud Elliott on the Cover 3 Podcast for spotting that earlier this year. The Cardinals are set to face six of the eight teams with the lowest odds to win the conference title, according to FanDuel. Of course, a lot of this hinges on new quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, the transfer from Ohio State. And yes, there's some extra belief here. As a fellow South Dakotan, it feels like my duty to buy in. This is the first year of the nine-game ACC slate, which only raises the degree of difficulty."
Louisville doesn't have an easy slate. Their opener is against a Pete Golding-coached Ole Miss Rebels team coming off a CFP appearance that performed well in the transfer portal on a neutral field in Nashville, Tennessee.
Besides the SMU Mustangs and possibly the Kentucky Wildcats, though, the Cardinals have a manageable schedule for the first of the nine-game ACC conference schedule era.
Lincoln Kienholz could do Ohio State a solid in the ACC
Kienholz could singlehandedly show how valuable it is to get reps in Ryan Day's quarterback room in ACC play this coming season by dominating after seeing limited live reps for Ohio State over the past several years.
Being able to sell future QB recruits on in-house success from Julian Sayin at the same time as pointing out how well Kienholz is doing in Louisville would be a powerful thing. It'd potentially justify taking a pay cut.
The Buckeyes are a machine, and sometimes, that machine produces great products that thrive elsewhere. Kienholz was always an understudy at OSU, but he may be about to prove that a QB room in Columbus often features many great arms. That potentially legendary 2024 room had a national champion in Will Howard, a Heisman finalist in Sayin, and whatever Kienholz ends up being.
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