Louisville QB Lamar Jackson makes history in Music City Bowl win
Lamar Jackson just announced himself as a player to watch in 2016.
Louisville’s freshman quarterback had a record-setting performance in Wednesday’s 27-21 win against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl by becoming the third FBS quarterback to throw for 200 yards and rush for 200 yards in a bowl game.
Jackson completed 12 of 26 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 22 times for 226 yards and two scores in the victory. He joins Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Texas’ Vince Young as the only quarterbacks to complete the 200-200 postseason feat.
Jackson did most of his damage early. He threw for 187 yards and rushed for rushed for 138 yards in the first half as the Cardinals went to halftime with a 20-14 lead at half.
But the A&M defense settled down in the second half and gave quarterback Jake Hubenak a chance to lead the Aggies back.
Hubenak was in his first start for Texas A&M as the Aggies quarterbacking corps had been depleted in the past month after Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray decided to transfer. Hubenak was the only scholarship quarterback on the Aggies roster.
Hubenak looked shaky early, overthrowing his receivers and getting spooked in the pocket, but when he was able to play a little more freely, he excelled thanks to a fantastic receiving game by Josh Reynolds. Reynolds had 11 catches for 177 yards and most of those catches involved him stretching high for tall throws.
Hubenak also got some help from running back Tra Carson, who had 20 carries for 106 yards and a score.
Hubenak had a chance to win the game late after a defensive stop forced Louisville to punt the ball back to the Aggies with 3:45 remaining. Hubenak made a couple great throws and the Aggies were aided by a couple ill-advised Louisville penalties, but on fourth down, Hubenak’s pass fell between two receivers and the Aggies turned the ball over on downs.
Jackson rushed for a first down on the ensuing possession and ended the game.
The win gave a Louisville team that started the season 0-3 an 8-5 record and a possibility of a being preseason ranked heading into 2016. A&M’s future is a little murkier. The Aggies started the season 5-0 and ended 8-5. Sumlin will have to figure out his quarterbacking situation this offseason, especially since the Aggies don’t have a QB committed for the 2016 class. It might be a long offseason College Station.
For more Texas A&M news, visit AggieYell.com.
For more Louisville news, visit CardinalSports.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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