The Atlantic Line
Louisville rides Lincoln Kienholz past Syracuse 34-26 for a second straight ACC win
Lincoln Kienholz ran for two scores and threw for another as Louisville beat Syracuse 34-26, handing the Orange their 11th straight ACC loss.
Louisville won a game at the JMA Wireless Dome that had two very different halves. Lincoln Kienholz did most of his damage before the break, and the Cardinals held on in the second half to beat Syracuse 34-26 on Saturday. The win puts Louisville at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, its second straight victory after back-to-back three-point losses.
Kienholz ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third, according to ESPN's Associated Press recap. His 82-yard run on a quarterback counter put Louisville ahead for good late in the first quarter. He added a 1-yard plunge and then hit Isaac Brown for a 46-yard score with 28 seconds left in the half, sending the Cardinals to the locker room up 28-23. He finished 14 of 26 for 310 yards and ran for 53 more. His 10 rushing touchdowns are second in the league behind Florida State's Ashton Daniels. Keyjuan Brown scored twice on 5-yard runs, the second set up by Cameron White's interception with 7:34 to play.
The first half produced 669 combined yards, the most in an ACC first half since 2022. Louisville then managed just 58 yards after intermission, and it was turnovers that kept Syracuse from coming back. Yahoo Sports noted a fumbled handoff at the Louisville 5 that ended a 58-yard Orange drive. Syracuse also committed eight penalties for 75 yards, three of them unsportsmanlike conduct flags in the first half.
For Syracuse (2-4, 0-4), the larger concern is at quarterback. Malachi Nelson, the third-stringer making his second start, threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns along with two interceptions, but he left in the fourth quarter with an injury. Danny Lauter, the fourth-stringer, came on in relief, The Daily Orange reported. Steve Angeli and Amari Odom were already out. Umari Hatcher set career highs with 13 catches for 224 yards, and Ahmad Miller ran for 124 yards. The loss was Syracuse's 11th straight in ACC play and its 12th in a row against Power 4 opponents. The Orange have now been outscored 78-36 after halftime this season.
What it means for the next game
Louisville has a bye before hosting Stanford on Saturday, October 31. The Cardinals have scored at least 27 points in every game and are averaging about 38.7 per game. Their three losses, to Ole Miss, Wake Forest and NC State, came by a combined nine points, all of them by three. Wins over Florida State and Syracuse have them back above .500 in the league. Stanford arrives at 3-4 and 1-3 in the ACC, so Louisville will be at home against a team with a worse conference record. The question after this game is whether the offense can stay productive after halftime, since it nearly stalled out in the second half here.
Syracuse goes to North Carolina on October 24 on ACC Network, facing a Tar Heels team that is 4-2 and 2-1 in the conference. The Orange have stayed close in most of their losses. Defeats to California and Virginia came by three points each, and this one by eight. Still, they have not won since a 42-41 decision at UConn. How healthy Nelson is will likely decide whether Syracuse can push North Carolina, or whether Lauter makes his first start with a receiving corps that has barely worked with him.
