In true Ali fashion, “Action” Jackson and the Cardinals (3-0) dominated and knocked the legendary ACC-rival Seminoles (2-1) to the canvas.
Advertisement
“He’s got tremendous confidence”, Petrino said.
While Jackson is tearing up defenses with the greatest of ease right now, he must be prepared for teams to start making adjustments.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson has established himself as the clear favorite for the Heisman Trophy. FSU’s offense could not protect quarterback Deondre Francois, who was sacked five times and completed just 7-of-18 passes for 101 yards. For the game, the Cardinals out-gained the Seminoles 530-284.
Dalvin Cook was bottled up well by the Louisville defense, only managing 54 yards on 16 carries.
“Give credit to Louisville, they did a great job”, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We worked really hard on setting edges and not letting [Cook] get outside”. He also passed for 216 yards and a score. “That was a big task for us”. They couldn’t get pressure on Lamar Jackson. Teammate Brandon Radcliff had 118.
Louisville scored on two of its first three possessions – on a pair of Jackson TD runs – to take a 14-0 lead.
As a freshman last season, Jackson completed 135-of-247 passes, for 1,840 yards, 12 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly threw for a career-high 421 yards and three touchdowns, but it was two costly turnovers in the second half that handed the game to Alabama.
Louisville washed over No. 2 Florida State 63-20. I can’t wait to watch the locker room version of what Fisher said to his players when the Showtime cameras were on.
Up 49-10, Louisville had terrific field position after another long Jaire Alexander punt return. There were struggles in the areas of field goal kicking, returning kickoffs, and punting.
CRAZY STAT II: Jackson now has the most rushing touchdowns (10) for a quarterback in his team’s first three games since 1996.
“That was an unbelievable run”, Petrino said of Jackson’s scamper. “That was a pretty exciting way to finish”. Although the Cardinals entered this game ranked in the top 10, many people felt that they were the third-best team in the ACC Atlantic behind Clemson and Florida State.
Louisville travels to West Virginia to face Marshall next weekend.
That’s my takeaway after Louisville beat the Number 2 team in America as thoroughly and relentlessly as the Seminoles have ever been beaten.
Advertisement
“Tomorrow we’ll come back and watch the video”, he said. But I doubt even the most die-hard Cardinals fans could’ve seen anything like 63-20 happening. We’ll let Michael Vick’s co-sign regarding Jackson’s performance against Florida State tell you another reason why.
