If Louisville can play disciplined defense and keep Houston’s offense off the field, it will be an easy win for the Cardinals.
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According to CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli, the Sooners’ playoff chances aren’t as low as one might think as OU sits at No. 9 in the poll with two games to go.
But the Cougars weren’t done getting after him just yet. The Heisman front-runner had all but five of his team yards in the first half, but two Cardinal turnovers (neither by Jackson) and 74 yards in penalties limited what Jackson could actually do. He has 2,608 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and 429 yards rushing and nine more scores. There are times, Oliver lives in the opponents’ backfield. He completed less than half of his passes for just 211 yards and the Cards’ lone touchdown, while carrying the ball 25 times for an anemic 33 yards, averaging just 1.3 yards per rush. He simply had no chance to succeed as the pocket collapsed around him and provided nowhere to run.
“He made some really good plays in the game”.
With that being said, if any one of them watched this game against Houston, they would understand that this loss was on the offensive line and not Lamar Jackson.
The Cougars (8-2) will counter with Ward, their dual-threat quarterback.
They scored the final touchdown of the first half with a 50-yard double pass.
In order to win, Houston will need a big game in the trenches from freshman phenom Ed Oliver, who takes the phrase “bull in a china shop” to a whole new level.
On a dark night for Louisville football, that’s small consolation. Now, they’ll be playing with more motivation than ever, as No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 MI and N0.
What Jackson’s performance does do, however, is shake up the seemingly unending wave of momentum he was riding through the first 11 weeks of the season. His odds of winning the race had climbed to a ridiculous -5000, and there was talk that he had essentially clinched it already. The Cards, who now hold a half-game lead in the Atlantic Division, will earn a place in the title game only if Wake Forest upsets fourth-ranked Clemson on Saturday.
This was by far the most aggressive defense Louisville had faced this season and the Cardinals were not prepared. Losses by Michigan, Clemson, and Washington helped vault the Cardinals to No. 5 in the playoff rankings.
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Now any considerations of hypothetical finishes are rendered moot. These are scenarios that would benefit Louisville greatly. That’s why it’s important for MI to win out and eliminate Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State from the conversation. However, Jackson was held in check during the 44-12 win over Wake Forest last Saturday. Jackson had no time to look downfield, and that’s a big problem when you’re trying to orchestrate a 31-point comeback. It obviously wasn’t a good look for the ACC for one of its top teams to be so fully dominated by a squad outside the Power Five, but the loss could ultimately mean the ACC is excluded from the CFP this season. Their strength of schedule is nothing to be proud about as they’ve beaten only two teams with records over.500 and the biggest game on their schedule, at Clemson, ended up being a loss.
