Ole Miss-Louisville: Who has the edge?
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Quarterback
Ole Miss returns sixth-year quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who threw for just under 4,000 yards in his first season at the FBS level and finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting. He’s one of the preseason favorites for the award in 2026. Louisville will turn to Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, who has thrown a combined 36 passes over three seasons and has yet to start a collegiate game.
Edge: Ole Miss
Running back
The Rebels return star Kewan Lacy, a 2025 Doak Walker Award finalist who tied the single-season rushing yardage record and set a new mark for touchdowns in a season. He’s a preseason first-team All-American. Louisville’s Issac Brown and Keyjuan Brown ran for a combined 1,588 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, with both averaging better than seven yards per carry. Ole Miss added a pair of experienced runners to help take the load off Lacy in former Michigan State back Makhi Frazier and former Southern Utah back Joshua Dye.
Edge: Even
Wide receivers/tight ends
Ole Miss is replacing De’Zhaun Stribling, Harrison Wallace III, Cayden Lee and Dae’Quan Wright, who accounted for more than 3,000 combined receiving yards in 2025. Junior Deuce Alexander (684 yards) headlines a new-look receivers room that could look toward the tight ends a bit more this season. Having lost leading receivers Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy, Louisville will have a new-look receiver room as well that features Vanderbilt transfer Tre Richardson and Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy.
Edge: Ole Miss
Offensive line
The Rebels return their interior three in center Brycen Sanders and guards Delano Townsend and Patrick Kutas. Terez Davis has locked down the left tackle spot, though right tackle has been a battle through fall practice. Louisville’s Lance Robinson was an honorable mention All-ACC selection last season, and Cason Henry has started 18 games in his college career at tackle.
Edge: Even
Defensive line
Louisville’s Clev Lubin is one of the ACC’s best and is coming off a 13.5 tackle-for-loss, 8.5 sack season. Ole Miss returns preseason All-American tackle Will Echoles and end Kam Franklin, who had a combined 20.5 tackles-for-loss and 10 sacks last year. The Rebels also added Oregon’s Blake Purchase, Alabama’s Jordan Renaud and Nevada’s Jonathan Maldonado to shore up the pass rush with the departure of Princewill Umanmielen.
Edge: Ole Miss
Linebackers
Cardinals leading tackler TJ Quinn (95 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss) is gone, though they return Stanquan Clark, who started three games in 2025 but was out much of the year with injury. Ole Miss returns Suntarine Perkins and his 179 career tackles – including 32 tackles-for-loss and 18.5 sacks – and added Cal’s Luke Ferrelli, the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Baylor’s Keaton Thomas, who was a second-team All-Big 12 pick.
Edge: Ole Miss
Secondary
The Rebels return cornerbacks Jaylon Braxton and Antonio Kite and added former Auburn corner Jalyn Crawford. They remade their safety room by adding a trio of high-level starters – Florida’s Sharif Denson, Florida State’s Edwin Joseph and Georgia’s Joenel Aguero. Louisville safety Antonio Watts was an honorable mention All-ACC pick last year, as was cornerback Tayon Holloway.
Edge: Ole Miss
Special teams
Ole Miss returns Lucas Carneiro, a preseason All-American who made 31 of 35 field goals last season. Oscar Bird averaged 46 yards per punt in his first season playing American football. Louisville’s Richardson was 17th nationally at 25.1 yards per kick return last season at Vanderbilt. The Cardinals must replace starting kicker Cooper Ranvier and punters David Chapeau and Carter Schwartz.
Edge: Ole Miss
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