In his first game of 2016, Jackson threw for six touchdowns and rushed for two more, grabbing a Louisville school-record for touchdowns in a single game.
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Jackson finished with 411 passing yards and 199 rushing yards.
Jackson scored four rushing touchdowns on 139 yards in addition to 344 passing yards in the opening half, which included a 72-yard play-action bomb to James Quick on the opening play from scrimmage.
The SU defense forced the first Louisville punt of the game but the Orange were unable to capitalize and Jackson went right back to work.
That remarkable athleticism was on display in all its glory late in the second quarter.
The Orange averaged 62.6 plays per game last season, averaging one play every 28.1 seconds. Petrino said the mobile sophomore left room for improvement but was pleased with his poise in the pocket.
Jackson is the nation’s third-leading rusher at 159 yards a game, is ninth in passing yards at 348.5 and responsible for a nation-leading 78 points.
However, within the context of a game played between two tempo teams (one of which includes a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback), 62 points shouldn’t come as a significant surprise. Chubb, who managed 80 yards and a score on 20 touches, is clearly Heisman-caliber, but he can’t win the award without more support.
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“We go after it in practice not to get exhausted”, Jackson said. “That’s not what the offense is built for”, Jackson said after the game. High-scoring games are inevitable with this style of play, particularly against top-end teams with a significant talent disparity, and it isn’t fair to compare the final number on the scoreboard to opponent tallies from years past. “People weren’t expecting a quarterback to do that but I didn’t have anything else to do”. The offense is supposed to be flawless. With Jackson’s performance in the first two weeks of the season, I think the sights of many football fans all across the country are now set on this game, too. Both teams are facing tougher defenses than they played the week prior, but both seem to have some offensive firepower as well. “You’ve got to let the chains get down and be set before they can snap the ball again, and there were a couple times in that game where they didn’t get set”. A lot of them either failed to play up to their usual standard or didn’t even suit up. Cardinals running backs Brandon Radcliff (48 yards) and Jeremy Smith (30 yards) closed the scoring with touchdown runs. “I’m nearly embarrassed that I didn’t do a better job for my team”. You guys (in the media) look at your watches. The higher it gets, the more challenging it is to take the over.
