But Jackson has been no ordinary quarterback. Watson and the Tigers will be playing in the 2017 College Football Playoff.
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University of Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield placed third with 361 points while his Oklahoma teammate and wide receiver Dede Westbrook was fourth with 209 points.
Alabama’s top-ranked defense placed three players on the first team, one at each level: Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen; linebacker Reuben Foster; defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Add Lamar Jackson’s name to the Pantheon of college football history. He created countless memorable highlights and undoubtedly caused many sleepless nights for opposing coaches.
Although the Cardinals lost back-to-back games to end the season, the program still had an incredible year, going 9-3 with a 7-1 record in the ACC. Jackson’s dominance on the field was a big reason for the team’s success, with the Cardinals QB racking up 3,300 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 1,538 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground.
Meanwhile, a quarterback who had rushed for 226 yards in the 2015 Music City Bowl against Texas A&M, a game watched only by partisan fans and those who could not extricate themselves from couches, threw for six touchdowns and rushed for two in the opener against Charlotte.
We saw flashes of this ability previous year. He is already a game-changing runner (841 yards and 12 touchdowns) and solid passer (2,592 yards and 65.3 completion percentage). Some colleges were not sold on him as a quarterback, but Jackson was such a dynamic talent that Louisville coach Bobby Petrino altered his offense to accommodate Jackson’s speed and elusiveness.
It remains to be seen whether Manziel turns out to be a bad influence on Jackson, but what if Tebow actually manages to exert his power of positivity upon the wayward ex-Browns quarterback?
Jackson, from Pompano Beach, Florida, is eager to resume bowl preparations for the game in his home state after a week of media appearances and awards shows in Atlanta and NY – where his fashion choices took over social media.
In the end, this was clearly a two horse Heisman race between the two ACC quarterbacks, and even then Jackson won by a considerable margin.
Jackson won the Heisman when he was five days younger than 2013 victor Jameis Winston of Florida State. His speech after Saturday night’s announcement in NY was fittingly youthful, giddy and authentic.
Jackson told reporters he had a speech written but thanked his fellow players, coaches and mom from his heart. “To be able to stand up here with all these other Heisman Trophy winners, I’m extremely proud to represent this class and the University of Louisville with their first Heisman Trophy”.
“Each and every game should be a Heisman moment”, Jackson said. He starts his second season as the Cardinals starter. He had 453 total yards and led Louisville to a victory.
Lamar had 30 touchdowns in 2016 as well as 3,390 yards under his belt, making him well-deserving of becoming the youngest victor in the history of the award at the remarkable age of 19. Jackson blew the doors off the Florida State Seminoles a week later, 63-20. The same goes for Jackson.
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Look now. Yet again in college football, lore just beget lore. He did the impossible despite losing the last two games of the regular season.
