College Football Week 3 Winners and Losers: Keep Louisville Weird

Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz is the weirdest quarterback in the Power 4, which is saying something, considering the journeys of both quarterbacks in Ole Miss’s win over LSU on Saturday.

Kienholz, as you’ll hear on any national Cardinals broadcast, arrived on the banks of the Ohio River not having started a game since his days at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, S.D. Among fans at Ohio State, his old school, he was primarily known for a poor relief performance in the 2023 Cotton Bowl against Missouri. This is hardly a recipe for stardom.

And yet! There was Kienholz going ball-for-ball with Rebels gunslinger Trinidad Chambliss on Sept. 6. On Saturday, there was Kienholz imposing his will against SMU in the ranked-vs.-ranked game America forgot. Thanks to his 177 yards and two passing touchdowns, Louisville established itself as an ACC contender.

Here’s hoping that your team’s player with the quirkiest background flexed his star power on a horrible weather day across much of the United States (more on that in a minute). Welcome to this week’s winners and losers.

Winner: Trinidad Chambliss

Don’t let the week of press centered around Tigers coach Lane Kiffin fool you: When it was all over, this night belonged to Chambliss. The numbers were gaudy enough-33 for 48 for 363 passing yards and two passing touchdowns against an interception with a rushing touchdown-but his was a triumph of the heart. At the risk of sounding like NBC’s Cris Collinsworth, here’s a guy who started at Ferris State, won in Division II far from college football’s madding crowd, gambled on a long-shot Power 4 gig, and became a legend forever in one of the sport’s great revenge games. Old Hollywood–type stuff.

Loser: NC State

Often in this column, the “Losers” section is used to discuss a team that won but showed serious flaws, or a concept (both of those are coming). And sometime, it’s for a team that just lost. The Wolfpack just lost, in a fashion rarely seen in college football history-leading Vanderbilt 31–28, NC State lost when quarterback CJ Bailey took a snap in his own end zone, slow-played getting down for a safety, fumbled the football and watched Commodores cornerback Jordan Matthews fall on it for a go-ahead touchdown. That might be all she wrote for the Wolfpack as a factor in 2026, a disappointment after a little bit of preseason hype.

Winner: Will Stein

Kentucky hinted at a 2026 turnaround with a big first half against Alabama before plummeting to a 45–17 defeat. On Saturday, Stein’s squad fell off no such cliff, dominating Texas A&M wire to wire in a 31–21 win. Stein, who made headlines in the summer for insinuating that he alone could fix the Wildcats, has altered Kentucky’s identity to the extent that Oregon may be feeling his loss. Aggies coach Mike Elko told Stein in a televised hot mic moment that “you guys kicked our ass,” and future opponents like LSU and Tennessee should take notice.

Loser: The Oregon–Portland State ‘rivalry’

FBS-FCS games exist for two reasons: to get FBS teams wins and FCS teams money. As the financial gulf between the two subdivisions has widened, however, many have become harder and harder to justify-none moreso than the farcical series between the Ducks and Vikings. On Friday, Oregon beat Portland State 84–0, not wanting to leave anything to chance after slipping past the Vikings 81–7 in 2023. Cue the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme: The money does not actually seem to be helping Portland State, who last made the FCS playoffs in 2015.

Winner: Louisville (and its Browns)

More Cardinals talk, as Kienholz has a formidable duo of running backs to aid him: Keyjuan Brown and Isaac Brown (no relation). Keyjuan, of Anniston, Ala., blitzed the Mustangs for a career-best 163 yards (on just 10 carries!) and two touchdowns. Isaac, the ACC’s reigning yards-per-carry champion and a Miami native, tacked on 67 yards on 10 carries with a score. That’s three explosive Louisville backfield talents in all that a fairly light remaining schedule will have to deal with-good luck to Wake Forest, up first next Saturday.

Loser: USC’s defense

For approximately the umpteenth year in a row, no one has a good answer in September as to whether or not Trojans coach Lincoln Riley has fixed his long-standing defensive allergy. Since shutting out Fresno State on Sept. 4, USC has allowed 30 points to Louisiana and 35 points to Rutgers. The latter game Saturday had to infuriate Trojans fans: USC allowed 460 yards to a team that mustered 346 against Massachusetts in its opener. Good thing the Trojans’ opponent next Saturday isn’t coming off an 84-point performance-wait a minute.

Winner: Nate Sheppard

Duke’s semi-obscure running back won’t stay semi-obscure-his numbers ensure it. In the Blue Devils’ opener against Tulane, he ran for 227 yards; against Illinois last Saturday, he put up 147. In a 35–7 win over Stanford this Saturday, Sheppard churned out 154 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a 2,288-yard pace if he plays 13 games-a top-10 total all time-but more importantly, his Duke team doesn’t seem to be teeing up any sort of falloff after its unexpected 2025 ACC title.

Loser: Florida State

The Seminoles were both bad and unlucky against the Crimson Tide on Saturday, wasting quarterback Ashton Daniels’s highest passing yardage total (377) since the Cardinal’s epic comeback win over Colorado in 2023. Florida State opened a 21–6 lead on Alabama before storms torpedoed its momentum, and the Crimson Tide emerged from the lightning delay the more focused team en route to a 50–36 win. The Seminoles have now allowed 500 yards twice in 13 days, which is jarring when you consider that they did that just twice in their entire 2–10 2024 season. Central Arkansas next Saturday looks like a gimme, but coach Mike Norvell badly needs to knock off Virginia at home on Oct. 3.

Winner: Heidelberg

Down in Division III, the Student Princes (yes, that’s actually their name) (no, seriously) shed the biggest historical monkey of the week. Playing Mount Union-the most feared team in Division III for decades, and a longtime conference rival of the tiny Tiffin, Ohio-based UCC school-Heidelberg scored an impressive 37–34 victory. It was the Student Princes’ first win over the Purple Raiders since 1988 after 37 consecutive losses. Coach Scott Donaldson’s team is 3–0, which is more than Ohio State can say.

Loser: Weather

Let’s take a moment to vent against a particularly prickly year for Mother Nature. On Saturday, two of the most interesting games of the day-North Carolina–Clemson and Florida State–Alabama-ground to a halt due to lightning delays. For the second straight week, ESPN was forced to shunt its games from station to station, while storms completely changed the flow of multiple contests. Maybe we should take comfort that there’s an element of college football that conference commissioners and media executives can’t control.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Week 3 Winners and Losers: Keep Louisville Weird.

This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM.