Savage Words: Could a South Dakotan win the Heisman?

When quarterback Lincoln Kienholz was a senior at Pierre in 2022, the Governors came to Brandon and erased a 21-point deficit and went on to beat the Lynx 43-34.

In that game, Kienholz gave a memorable performance, throwing for 304 yards and rushing for 195 more.

“He’s special. His vision is amazing,” Brandon Valley head coach Matt Christensen said at the time. “The kid is on another level.”

Kienholz had a backbreaking run in the second quarter of that game, trailing 28-7. Brandon Valley had Kienholz and the Govs pinned into a 3rd-and-25 from the Lynx 40. Kienholz abruptly scampered for 25 yards on the play, setting up a score two plays later, giving Pierre all the momentum heading into halftime.

“It was a major play by that kid. Absolutely incredible play,” Christensen also said at the time. “He goes 20 yards in a blink of an eye. We felt we had rush lanes taken care of, but he doesn’t need much space.”

That game no-doubt raised some eyebrows of football fans in the stands. Kienholz was special, and everyone could see it.

I could see it, standing down on the sidelines. Even back then, his strides were so long, so defining. He’d gobble up five yards on each step.

He even looked the part. He just looked like an NFL player in that Pierre green and white. He was special then. He’s special now.

Later that season in 2022 when Pierre came from behind to beat the Lynx, Kienholz became South Dakota’s all-time passer with 9,100 career yards, surpassing Brandon Valley’s Austin Sumner.

But even Sumner, and everyone at Brandon Valley that night six years ago, had to respect what they were seeing.

But what they were seeing was just getting started.

Kienholz initially committed to play at the University of Washington before eventually ending up at Ohio State. But in two years with the Buckeyes, Kienholz had just 21 pass completions for 250 yards and a single touchdown.

He entered the transfer portal after the 2025 season and packed his bags, ready to leave Columbus. 

He’s landed at Louisville, and everything Brandon Valley fans witnessed back in 2022 is now on full display with the Cardinals this season.

Honestly, Louisville football has never captured my attention. I’d be willing to bet unless you’re from Kentucky, it’s not captured the attention of many around the country. But Kienholz has changed that, and people are taking notice.

The Cardinals are 2-2 on the season after a 30-27 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. Despite the loss, Kienholz did his part, going 27-for-36 for 324 yards with one touchdown pass and two rushing touchdowns.

For the year, the Pierre native is 75-for-109 (a .688 completion percentage) for 1,140 yards, seven touchdown passes, and six rushing touchdowns.

His performance so far this season is worthy of Heisman Trophy talk. Although there are names above him in the chatter, such as CJ Carr of Notre Dame, Josh Hoover of Indiana, and Arch Manning of Texas, Kienholz deserves a serious look.

A South Dakotan has never won the Heisman, but they’ve been close. Aberdeen Central’s Josh Heupel went to Oklahoma and finished second in voting to Florida State’s Chris Weinke in 2000.

Heupel is now the head coach at the University of Tennessee. Obviously, we don’t know where Kienholz is going to end up, but it seems a sure bet it’ll be somewhere in the football profession.

“He’s been anointed by the talent distributor,” Christensen said when we talked about Kienholz last week.

Clearly, memories of Kienholz’s performances against Brandon Valley have stayed with Christensen.

That’s good enough for me.

Here’s to hoping it’s good enough for the Heisman voters.