Can he repeat the feat?
Louisville’s Jackson back in New York for shot at 2nd Heisman
LOUISVILLE, KY.» Lamar Jackson has looked even better than last year, when his performance was good enough to make him the youngest player to ever win the Heisman Trophy.
This year, the junior quarterback has posted remarkably similar, eye-opening statistics. But the attention has been more muted after Louisville stumbled through a 1-4 midseason stretch in Atlantic Coast Conference play this year.
His skills, leadership abilities and prospects as an NFL quarterback have been questioned — particularly after defending national champion Clemson and QB counterpart Kelly Bryant upstaged Jackson and the Cardinals in a 4721 loss in September.
Jackson has sidestepped questions about his NFL future and remained focused on helping Louisville win. And while he doesn’t have the same talent around him as he did last year, he has led Louisville (8-4) to a three-game winning streak and a berth in the Dec. 30 TaxSlayer Bowl against No. 24 Mississippi State.
And he has earned a return trip to New York on Saturday as a Heisman finalist and can become just the second repeat winner and first since Ohio State’s Archie Griffin did it in 1974 and 1975.
“I don’t really think about all that,” said Jackson, 20, a finalist along with Stanford running back Bryce Love and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. “I just come into the game with a passion. I hate losing. I love to win, and that’s it.”
But the statistics he has put up along the way have been impressive. He has:
• Passed for 3,489 of his 4,932 yards of offense, a total of 4 yards better than last year.
• Accounted for 42 touchdowns (25 passing), just nine fewer than in 2016.
• Improved his completion rate from 56 percent to over 60 percent with just six interceptions.
• Led the nation in total offense per game with 411 yards (1 yard more than last season).
• Become the first player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to surpass 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing in consecutive seasons.
• Been named the ACC offensive and overall player of the year, with a school-record 12-game streak of 300-plus yards.
Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy has seen Jackson’s development and believes he has even more upside at the pro level.
“We forget, this kid’s really young,” said McElroy, an ESPN analyst. “I happen to think the best is way in front of him and if I was an NFL talent evaluator, I would absolutely roll the dice on the kid.”
Taking more snaps under center seems to have helped the Pompano Beach, Fla., native. Jackson has shown more poise and patience in the pocket before taking off running. His best game statistically was a 525-yard, six-touchdown performance at North Carolina preceding Louisville’s slump that dropped the Cardinals out of The Associated Press top 25 and ACC title contention. But the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Jackson remains one of the nation’s top offensive players because of his ability to pass and to embarrass defenders with his running.
“Every day in practice he will do something or he will turn around and look at me and comment on his knowledge of the passing game and what he would like to do or what the cornerback did,” said Louisville coach Bobby Petrino.