Jackson Leads Louisville To 52-7 Win Over BC
BOSTON (AP) — Lamar Jackson ran for three touchdowns and threw for four more in three quarters on Saturday to lead No. 5 Louisville to a 52-7 victory over Boston College.
Jackson ran for a 69-yard score on the game's third play and added rushing TDs of 13 and 53 yards in the second half. The Heisman Trophy favorite also threw for TDs from 30, 44 and 10 yards out on drives of five, four and one play to give the Cardinals a 28-0 lead just two snaps into the second quarter.
Despite leaving the game briefly in the first half with cramps, Jackson ran 15 times for 185 yards to become the first quarterback in school history to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 231 yards.
It was the third time this season he has accounted for seven or more touchdowns. No other player in FBS has done it more than once.
Jackson went to the bench for the last two possessions of the first half with that coach Bobby Petrino said was forearm cramps but returned to start the second. He left after three quarters with the Cardinals (7-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference No. 7 CFP) leading 52-7.
Tyler Rouse scored from 39 yards out on a screen pass from Patrick Towles to give Boston College (4-5, 1-5) its only score. The Eagles were coming off a victory over North Carolina State that was their first ACC win in almost two years.
"(Louisville) is one of the top three talented teams in America. That quarterback is electric," BC coach Steve Addazio said. "When you play a great football team, you can't have self-inflicted mistakes like we had."
Jackson had one shaky period, when he threw an interception with about five minutes left in the first half, then left with the arm injury. Petrino said Jackson complained about forearm cramps and numbness in his fingers and received intravenous fluids before returning for the second half.
He returned at the start of the third quarter but lost the ball while scrambling. But then he led the Cardinals on an eight-play, 77-yard drive that he finished with a 13-yard TD run.
THE TAKEAWAY
LOUISVILLE: Arm cramps threatened to stall Jackson's Heisman candidacy, but he returned in the second half to run for two more touchdowns before sitting out the fourth quarter.
"I think he should be good," Petrino said. "He looked pretty good in the second half."
BOSTON COLLEGE: It's one thing to beat N.C. State like the Eagles did to snap an almost two-year ACC losing streak. But BC was reminded how far it has to go before it can be competitive among the top-tier teams in the conference.
UP NEXT
LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals return home to play Wake Forest before a Thursday night matchup at Houston.
BOSTON COLLEGE: Heads to Florida State on Friday night. The Eagles have lost six in a row to the Seminoles despite playing them tightly in the past three seasons, including Florida State's 2013 national championship season.
