Louisville’s Lamar Jackson joins legendary company in win over Texas A&M

Louisville learned the hard way that 2015 was going to be a rebuilding season, starting three different quarterbacks to start the season — a start that included three straight losses to Auburn, Houston and Clemson. But a 27-21 Music City Bowl win over Texas A&M showed that the Cardinals should be ready to compete sooner rather than later.

That was thanks in large part to true freshman quarterback Lamar Jackson, who eventually won the starting job and ran with it. And in this game, he literally ran with it, breaking the Music City Bowl record for rushing yards by gashing Texas A&M for 226 yards, including this touchdown run, where he blew by every defender in sight:

Jackson’s night was mostly brilliant through the air, too — he had 227 passing yards and two touchdowns, making him the first Power Five quarterback to top 200 yards through the air and on the ground since A&M’s Johnny Manziel did it in his first game after winning the Heisman Trophy. He’s also just the third FBS QB to tally 200+ in each category in a bowl game, with a performance ranking with Manziel’s torching of Oklahoma and Vince Young’s legendary night against USC.

And Jackson’s success brings A&M’s failure to find a successor to Manziel into sharp relief. Walk-on Jake Hubenak threw for 307 yards against the Cardinals, but also tossed two interceptions to his one touchdown and completed just 28 of his 48 throws. Who Kevin Sumlin will tab as A&M’s next signal-caller is a mystery, but there’s no question that the coach who spearheaded the Aggies’ recent success would trade a lot for a player like Jackson.

Jackson hasn’t been all that consistent this year, sometimes running well and sometimes passing well, and he finished the regular season with a 55.7 percent completion percentage and 10 touchdowns to eight interceptions.

When he couldn’t pass extraordinarily well, he could still run, as illustrated by his final regular season game against Kentucky, when he went 8-for-21 through the air but rushed for 186 yards. When he couldn’t run, he would pass: He mustered just two rushing yards against Wake Forest, but completed 19 of 26 throws for 207 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

And often, he did both things at least reasonably well. That produced a season that compares favorably, in one respect, to the career of one of the most electrifying players in college football history.

Jackson capped his freshman campaign with his most complete performance of the season, and although it’s just a bowl game — a game that inherently has a lot of variables — it has to get Louisville fans excited about the future. With even normal progression, he could become a force to be reckoned with in the ACC, and the latest star for a program that knows a little something about developing quarterbacks.