Lamar Jackson highlights vs Duke (video)

It wasn’t pretty, but Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals took down the Duke Blue Devils 24-14 at home on Friday night.

Coming off a heartbreaking loss two weeks ago to Clemson, Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals got back in the win column with a 24-14 win over heavy underdog Duke on Friday night at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Plagued by a game Blue Devil pass rush and consistently underthrown passes, Jackson had his least productive game of the season so far. The Heisman Trophy frontrunner completed just 13 of 26 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, adding another 144 yards and additional score on the ground. Fortunately for Jackson, the Cardinals defense was up to the task.

Louisville received the ball first and drove down the field for the opening touchdown in less than four minutes, capped by Jackson’s five-yard pass to Jaylen Smith. The Cardinals’ opening drive was highlighted by a signature Jackson play, as he eluded several pass rushers to find Jamari Staples on a 29-yard completion.

Duke responded with an impressive touchdown drive of its own, ensuring that the Cardinals couldn’t let up early. After the two teams traded punts, Jackson found Seth Dawkins on a pretty 53-yard pass deep, leading to a field goal.

That would be the last score of the half for Louisville, as Duke’s defense consistently hassled Jackson with pressure from the front seven. The Blue Devils controlled the time of possession, but couldn’t add to their point total after missing a field goal late in the half.

While the rain played a factor, Jackson had his worst half of the season, completing eight of 16 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown with another 52 yards on the ground.

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Fortunately for Jackson, the rest of the Cardinals gave him support early in the second half. After another defensive stop, Louisville went up 17-7 four minutes into the third on Jeremy Smith’s 80-yard touchdown run.

Jackson finally got the crowd going on Louisville’s next drive with a deep play-action pass followed by a pair of electric runs. Still, the Cardinals were unable to really break the game open, as Brandon Radcliffe fumbled deep in Duke territory.

Inaccuracy on short throws continued to hurt Jackson, and Louisville missed a field goal near the end of the third despite starting the drive in Duke territory. The Blue Devils finally took advantage of Louisville’s mistakes with a 15-play, 75-yard trudge that took nearly nine minutes, capped off by Daniel Jones’ touchdown pass to Jonathan Lloyd to make it a 17-14 game.

A 24-yard Jackson run helped Louisville get to midfield, and he followed that up with another electrifying carry to burn some clock. A huge sack of Jackson by Joe Giles-Harris forced the Cardinals to kick a field goal that was missed, but Duke gifted Louisville a first down with two minutes to go with a roughing the kicker penalty.

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Jackson ripped off another big run the next play, and then sealed the 24-14 victory with a two-yard touchdown carry. The sophomore quarterback didn’t get a chance to do much as Duke held the ball for nearly 37 minutes, but here are a few Louisville highlights from Friday night.

Full Highlights

Lamar Jackson’s next game will be Saturday, Oct. 22, against NC State.