Lamar Jackson’s season has been so brilliant that the Louisville sophomore has barely found himself in a pinch. That’s life when you enter Week 9 with 34 total touchdowns to your name, when you put everyone on notice by scoring 13 in less than 60 minutes of game time to start your season, and then only let up somewhat.
Lamar Jackson had Heisman numbers and highlights. Here’s his Heisman moment
Louisville’s star had done everything but engineer a game-winning drive with tons on the line. Check that off the list.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Entering the weekend, real drama had only happened one time. When the Cardinals visited Clemson at the start of October, Jackson found himself in a bind. He trailed by 18 at the half, and then he brought Louisville all the way back to take the lead. Clemson eventually won by a matter of inches and then feet. It wasn’t on Jackson.
It happened for a second time on Saturday. The No. 5 Cards were in Charlottesville to play a lousy Virginia team, and things got off the rails. The Hoos led by 10 in the third quarter, when they were pulling off some of Jackson’s own tricks. They led by one with 1:57 to play, when Jackson got the ball back and had to drive the Cards downfield for a Playoff hopes-preserving score.
He did it. Not feeling like leaving his chances up to a field goal, Jackson threw a beauty of a 29-yard rainbow to Jaylen Smith for a game-winning touchdown.
It capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took 104 seconds.
Virginia fans were sad, in the same way they’re always sad when these things happen to their football team. Jackson was cool, in the same way he’s always cool.
“We go through the two-minute drill during practice,” he said afterward. “It’s fun being the quarterback and the leader of the team. You just have to stay focused. If you get out of the element and let the crowd get to you, and let the defense harass you, you’re not going to be able to play the game.”
Jackson’s definitely able to play the game. On Saturday, he had to carry a bunch of weight all by himself. Louisville’s other players are often stuck in Jackson’s shadow, but they’re usually pretty great themselves.
The Cards haven’t gotten to 7-1 by being a one-man band. But here, they sort of were. Jackson was prolific, posting a 24-of-41 passing line for 361 yards, four scores, and an interception, and running 18 times for 90 yards. The rest of his team ran for 57, and the defense gave up 25 points to an offense that Richmond and UConn had fared better against. His teammates didn’t play terribly, but nobody moved the needle, and UVA stuck around.
There shouldn’t have been any doubts about Jackson, anyway.
He’d already done this before this game finished:
But there definitely won’t be now. Jackson had already become Las Vegas’ overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He’d done it with shock and awe, by outclassing the opposition by so much that any late-game heroics were basically moot.
That wasn’t the case on Saturday. Jackson played well, but he still needed to deliver at the last moment, with Louisville’s Playoff ambitions hanging in the balance.
Jackson had already made Florida State look childish and taken Clemson to the wire in Death Valley, while setting fire to just about everyone else. Now he’s pulled his team off the ropes, and his remarkable transformation is even closer to reaching New York.
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