Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson entered Week 5 as the favorite by far to win the Heisman Trophy. His team lost at No. 5 Clemson, which is quarterbacked by the preseason favorite to win the award, Deshaun Watson.
Lamar Jackson was so great vs. Clemson, he’s still the Heisman favorite despite the loss
Losses tend to damage Heisman chances, but it’s good to see the Louisville QB is still considered the favorite.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Heisman odds have tended to punish players whose teams lose games. Last year, Christian McCaffrey plummeted from 16/1 to 50/1 after Stanford lost by two points to Oregon, a game in which he had 189 yards from scrimmage. We also saw Leonard Fournette’s Heisman candidacy yield to Derrick Henry’s after Alabama mashed LSU, but that one made a lot more sense.
This time, though, everyone who tuned in saw Jackson pouring yardage and big plays on one of the country’s best defenses, and it’s nice to think a game coming down to just a few feet isn’t hurting his candidacy.
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Watson gained a lot of ground on Jackson, even though it’s arguable that Jackson outplayed his elder.
Watson had four turnovers, at least a couple of which were primarily his fault, while Jackson only had one.
Jackson was responsible for more yardage, 457 to 397, albeit with far more touches and less overall efficiency. But part of that has to do with the fact that Watson’s teammates are more talented than Jackson’s. Clemson has been one of the country’s best recruiters for years, unlike Louisville, and features potential first-round WR Mike Williams. Jackson is Louisville’s offense.
Jackson added to his legend, even in defeat.
A six-point margin on the road against last year’s national runner-up is about as “good” a loss as a team can have, even though Louisville was favored and higher-ranked. Add in that Louisville’s got a soft schedule for the next month or so, with plenty of chances to pile up numbers, and Jackson’s still got a Heisman chance. If either J.T. Barrett or Watson loses and Jackson doesn’t, look out.
Jackson showed all of us something in his first real test of 2016, too. He pulled Louisville back from an 18-point deficit and got the Cardinals within one receiver’s juke move of a massive win. Jackson’s hurdled people, bombed on people, and set a top-five (at the time) FSU on fire. But his second-half work against Clemson was the most impressive thing he’s done.
The 38-yard fourth-quarter scramble that set up Jackson’s second touchdown run of the game, when he slithered away from Clemson’s devastating pass rush, seemed to say, “Forget this,” and just took off? He scored three plays later, and the game briefly felt over. Jackson was in absolute command. Later, he turned three sure sacks on one play into an end zone throw that came just a couple feet from a potential winning TD.
Let this sum up the performance by the losing team’s quarterback:
Boulware’s played against Henry and Todd Gurley and been on the sidelines for a Clemson game against Jameis Winston. High praise.
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