Jeff Brohm reloads with Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz and explosive back Isaac Brown, positioning the ranked Cardinals as a formidable mid-October hurdle for the Florida State Seminoles.
Florida State will travel to the land of bourbon and the Kentucky Derby in October to take on the Louisville Cardinals under the Friday Night Lights on Oct. 9.
The Seminoles haven’t won a game against the Cardinals since the 2023 ACC Championship Game, a 16-6 victory that kept FSU undefeated before getting left out of the College Football Playoff. That season ended in an Orange Bowl loss against Georgia.
Going into his fourth season at Louisville, head coach Jeff Brohm has never had a losing season with the Cardinals. Coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2025, Louisville will be talented once more this upcoming season, talented enough to be ranked No. 21 in the ESPN way-too-early top 25 poll, post-spring version.
Brohm enters the 2026 season with yet another talented transfer player at the most important position on the field: quarterback. But, given Brohm’s history of developing quarterbacks (with his brother Brian as offensive coordinator/QB coach), that should not be a problem.
Under the watchful eye of the Brohm brothers, Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz relishes the idea of running the Louisville offense on the field. After serving as a backup to Julian Sayin last season with the Buckeyes, Kienholz has taken on a leadership role with his new teammates and has exhibited a “lead by example” work ethic.
Kienholz is the fourth transfer quarterback to come to Louisville in search of a better situation and more playing time, following Miller Moss (2025), Tyler Shough (2024) and Jack Plummer (2023). Both Shough and Plummer were 3,000-yard passers with the Cardinals.
In a story by Jody Demling of 247 Sports, Brohm had high praise for his talented signal-caller, “Lincoln has done a good job so far," Brohm said. "Anytime you have a guy who has not played as much, you are hungry and want to go prove yourself. I love coaching those types of guys. He wants to get on the field and show what he can do. He's got a good arm, and he is very athletic," Brohm said. He has come in and studied well to this point."
Sharing the backfield with Kienholz will be sophomore running back Isaac Brown. Brown rushed for 884 yards and seven touchdowns, and averaged a whopping 8.8 yards per carry. Brown posted six games of 100 yards rushing, including a season-high 205 yards and a score against Boston College. Re-recruiting Brown and pulling him back from the transfer portal was the best move of the off-season for the Cardinals.
The receiving corps will be talented, with transfers Tre Richardson (Vanderbilt) and Lawayne McCoy (Florida State) leading the way. Richardson was the main target of quarterback Diego Pavia and led the Commodores with 806 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. McCoy was third on the Seminoles team with 27 catches for 396 yards and three scores.
The defense is led by Clev Lubin and Antonio Watts. Last season, Lubin racked up 61 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and five pass breakups. For his efforts, Lubin was named third-team All-ACC.
From his linebacker spot, Watts picked off three passes to go along with his 42 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
Florida State holds an 18-6 overall record in the series history with Louisville. However, in the last eight meetings, that record stands at 4-4 in what has become a hotly contested matchup in recent years.
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