Lamar Jackson strikes first with early 72-yard touchdown (Video)

Louisville Cardinals star quarterback Lamar Jackson unleashes an amazing 72-yard touchdown strike on the first play from scrimmage against Syracuse.

On the first play from scrimmage in an ACC Atlantic game between the No. 13 Louisville Cardinals and the Syracuse Orange, Cardinals star quarterback Lamar Jackson unleashed an amazing 72-yard touchdown pass to take a 6-0 lead.

Jackson’s execution of the play-action fake even had the ESPN2 cameras fooled, as he torched the Syracuse secondary badly on this incredible aerial strike. Louisville crushed the Charlotte 49ers in their Week 1 opener. Jackson might just make the Cardinals a third College Football Playoff candidate in the ACC Atlantic.

The college football world knows all about the No. 2 Clemson Tigers and the No. 3 Florida State Seminoles, but Jackson is doing nothing but scoring touchdowns at an alarming rate for the Cardinals.

His improvement as a starting quarterback for head coach Bobby Petrino in 2016 is significant. Jackson was primarily a run-first quarterback in his first year as the Cardinals starter in 2015. His former high school coach has said that Jackson didn’t have a playbook until he arrived on the Louisville campus.

Now, Jackson is emerging as a Teddy Bridgewater-type of passer for the Cardinals early in 2016. His leadership on and off the field will be key if the Cardinals look to play in a meaningful bowl game this season.

Louisville looks very strong early in the 2016 NCAA season, but the Cardinals’ toughest games are still in front of them. The Cardinals will have to play Clemson, Florida and at the Houston Cougars before their regular season comes to a close.

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While the Louisville slate could be a tricky one as the season progresses, it seems that Petrino has a great quarterback he can lean on this fall in Jackson.