Cam Newton, RG III, Johnny Manziel … just a few of the recent Heisman Trophy winners to seemingly come out of nowhere en route to dominating the college football landscape. Soon we will add Lamar Jackson to that list.
If you haven’t heard of the Louisville quarterback yet, you soon will. He’s torching defenses to a tune we haven’t seen in over a decade. And he’s doing it against some of the best teams in the country.
He led the Cardinals to a walloping over #2 Florida State Saturday with a 63-20 victory. The sophomore quarterback had five total TDs in the win and still gave himself a ‘D’ performance rating. He said it was because he threw an interception and didn’t score on every single possession. Uh huh.
Here’s just a rundown at how insane Jackson has been through the first three games of the season:
Through three games, Jackson has accounted for 18 TDs, which leads the nation.
Saturday, Jackson tied the school record with four rushing TDs.
Jackson has run and passed for more than 100 yards in five straight games dating back to last year. In fact, he’s done it eight times so far in his young career. Michael Vick only did it three times in his entire collegiate career.
Jackson is currently averaging 9.5 yards-per-carry, which leads the nation among players with at least 30 carries. He’s just 153 rushing yards away from beating Vick’s best single season mark.
He’s one of just 58 players (primarily running backs) to rush for more than 460 yards.
If Jackson were a team, his 18 TDs so far this year would be tied for 8th in scoring, ahead of 114 other D-I schools.
AND,
Jackson is the only player over the last 16 years to score 10 rushing touchdowns in the first three games of a season.
So yeah. This kid is amazeballs. And even Michael Vick took notice.
And he isn’t wrong. Jackson is on pace to rush for 40 touchdowns. The most Vick ever scored? Nine (1999).
Just watch him. Jackson is fast as lightning and slicker than snot on a doorknob.
Another number to make your head explode, if it hasn’t already — Jackson is on pace to finish the season with 72 total TDs: 32 passing and 40 rushing. Those numbers don’t include a possible conference championship game or a bowl game. Those numbers alone would shatter all-time TD records for a single season: rushing (37) by Barry Sanders in 1988, and total TDs (63) by Colt Brennan in 2006.
This kid is for real, therefore we’re likely to see Louisville reach title contention this year. Of the last 15 Heisman winners, 11 of them played in the national championship game.
Of course, there’s A LOT of football yet to be played. But mark your calendars now for Oct 1 when Jackson matches up against top-five ranked Clemson, and Nov. 17 when his Louisville team plays ranked Houston.
I’ll have my popcorn ready.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Photo: Getty
