By Russ Brown
Special to NKyTribune
NASHVILLE — Lamar Jackson hit all the right notes Louisville’s 27-21 victory over Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl Wednesday night, earned MVP honors and got all the headlines — and rightfully so because the freshman quarterback put on a dazzling display in Nissan Stadium.
More, much more, about Jackson later. But let’s pause for a minute and make sure this is understood: Without some gritty plays by a tiring UofL defense in the final minutes, Jackson’s record-setting performance would have been for naught.
Texas A&M (8-5) pulled within the final score on a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Hubernak to Christian Kirk, then the Aggies forced a 3-and-out by UofL (8-5) to get the ball back with 3:45 remaining.
For awhile it looked as if A&M might be able to pull out its fifth straight bowl win when two critical penalties by the Cardinals on 3rd-and-5 and 4th-and-10 helped sustain a 53-yard drive to UofL’s 26-yard line. Then the Cards’ defense buckled down. Hubernak completed a 2-yard pass, then UofL forced three straight incompletions, the final one into the end zone, and then was able to run out the clock for its sixth win in the last seven games.
“That was such a great stand by our defense there at the end,” UofL coach Bobby Petrino said.
And Jackson also expressed his gratitude, saying, “I’m just going to remember how much our seniors fought and how the defense held up for us. Man, this is crazy.”
And fans on both sides who watched the game in the stadium or on national TV will remember Jackson’s splendid performance. He compiled 453 yards of total offense to break North Carolina State quarterback Mike Glennon’s Music City record of 424 yards, set in a loss to Vanderbilt in 2012.
Jackson also set a bowl record with 226 rushing yards, tied another mark with two rushing touchdowns and completed 12-of-26 passes for 227 yards and two TDs. He joined former Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel and ex-Texas standout Vince Young as the only college QBs to throw and run for at least 200 yards in a bowl game.
“Jackson is explosive and he’s got wheels,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “He picked up where he left off in the second half of the Kentucky game. He really gave us fits on the edge.We shored up the interior, but he got the ball on the perimeter against us.”
It didn’t take long for the 6-foot-3, 196-pound speedster to get his motor going. He had more than 100 yards rushing before the first quarter was even over, including touchdown runs of 6 and 61 yards, the latter when he faked a handoff, then burst through the Aggies’ defense and was off to the races.
“We got the win, and that’s all that matters,” Jackson said. “I don’t really look at it for me breaking records. I just go out there and play football, really. That’s all.”
“Oh, man, he really executed,” Petrino said. “Really proud of him. I’m most proud about Lamar that over this preparation he worked really hard. He was up there for extra hours watching video, taking notes, trying to really learn what it takes to be a quarterback. He improved tremendously on his footwork and his accuracy throwing the ball.”
“We had some great individual performances, but that really was a great team win,” said Petrino, who improved to 4-0 against A&M, with three previous wins at Arkansas.
Texas A&M quarterback Jake Hubenak, a third-stringer who inherited the job when Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray quit the team early this month, completed 28-of-48 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns and receiver Josh Reynolds broke two Music City records with 11 receptions for 177 yards. But Hubenak had two costly turnovers — a fumble and an interception.
Louisville’s defensive standouts were linebacker DeVonte Fields and safety Josh Harvey-Clemons. Fields racked up three sacks, while Harvey-Clemons intercepted a pass at the Cards’ 27-yard line while they were clinging to a 6-point lead. UofL drove 73 yards in seven plays after the pick, with Jackson throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Keith Towbridge.
“Devonte, he’s just relentless,” linebacker Keith Kelsey said. “He’s not — I wouldn’t even just call him a pass rusher, just his motor never stops. He’s always going and going, and he always finds the ball.”
The win not only ended UofL’s season successfully, but gave a preview of what will surely be high expectations for 2016, given that most of the Cards’ key players are underclassmen. As many as 18 starters will return.
“We don’t have a big group of seniors,” Petrino said. “I’m really excited about what we’ve got coming back.”
Burgess ejected
Senior linebacker James Burgess, UofL’s second-leading tackler, was ejected after the first play of the game for a targeting penalty against a Texas A&M receiver and was also banished from the sideline. Burgess finished with 261 career tackles, including 31.5 for loss. He also had seven interceptions while starting 43 games, 39 of which were victories.
Petrino said he didn’t agree with the call, but understands the reason for the rule and why it is enforced so rigidly.
“It’s about player safety,” he said. “We’re trying to do everything we can to keep players healthy and safe. That’s always a really hard call. I think we do a great job of teaching our players what we call the strike zone, where we want to hit, from below the chest to the top of the knees. But on that particular play, you’ve got a receiver coming down, and even though you’re trying to hit that strike zone, as you’re going up and he’s coming down, sometimes it happens. The rule is good, though. It’s a rule we need in our game, and you just have to live with it sometimes.”
Young seriously hurt
Junior outside linebacker Trevon Young, who led the Cards in sacks this season, suffered a serious injury to his left hip in the first quarter and was taken to a Nashville hospital. The Courier-Journal reported Young’s mother, Regina, wrote in a message that Young’s hip is broken and that he would have surgery today.
After attempting to tackle the Aggies’ Christian Kirk several minutes into the game, Young immediately grabbed his hip as he fell to the ground, then was driven off the field on a stretcher.
An honorable mention all-ACC pick, Young led UofL with 8.5 sacks until Fields passed him against the Aggies to finish with 11.5.
Russ Brown covered University of Louisville athletics for over 30 years, including 15 for The Courier-Journal in Louisville. He is senior writer/editor for the Louisville SportsReport, which he helped found, and also writes for Cardinalsports.com. He covers Louisville men’s basketball and football as a KyForward correspondent.