Lamar Jackson’s path to the Heisman Trophy

Every Heisman Trophy winner in the history of college football has had a unique story. However, few have had as fast of a climb to stardom as Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson.

In the age of social media and constant highlights, the true sophomore has been dazzling the masses for years. Before he was the Heisman Trophy winner, Jackson was just a kid playing quarterback and blowing defenses away in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Lamar was a four-star recruit with with offers from a number of major FBS programs, including Clemson, Florida and Auburn. He would make plays with his arm and legs and wind up in the news for plays like these.

After two impressive years as Boynton Beach’s starting quarterback, Jackson decided to commit to Louisville after making sure that Bobby Petrino would let him continue to play the position rather than moving him somewhere else like wide receiver. There was no questioning Jackson’s speed or his arm strength (just watch this video of him throwing a ball goal line to goal line), and he wanted to make sure he could continue to make big plays under center.

Once he arrived at Louisville, it didn’t take long for Jackson to start making an impact. As a true freshman, he played in 12 games (starting in eight of them) while picking up 23 total touchdowns.

Jackson’s breakout performance came in front of a national audience against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl. The Aggies had no answer for Jackson’s dual-threat capabilities, with the freshman QB picking up 227 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air while adding another 226 yards and two scores on the ground in the 27-21 win.

History was made that day, as Jackson became only the third quarterback in FBS history to put up 200 yards rushing and passing in a bowl game. The other two? Johnny Manziel and Vince Young.

Louisville fans realized that they had a special quarterback heading into the 2016 season, but few expected Jackson to break out like he did to start the year. The true sophomore opened up the season with one of the most dominant performances of any player in college football this year, scoring eight total touchdowns in a 70-14 blowout over Charlotte.

In the coming games, Jackson quickly started to run away from the rest of the pack as the clear frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. His signature Heisman moment came in just the second game of the season. Not only did Jackson rack up five more touchdowns in a 62-28 win over Syracuse, but he also produced one of the most exciting plays of the year by hurdling a defender on his way to the end zone.

The Heisman buzz hit its apex in Louisville’s Week 3 matchup against Florida State. The Seminoles weren’t able to contain Jackson, with the sophomore picking up another 146 yards and four touchdowns on the ground to go along with another 216 yards and a TD through the air.

Even one of the most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks in college and NFL history in Mike Vick came away impressed with Jackson after the 63-20 blowout over the Seminoles.

Jackson added another seven total touchdowns the following game against Marshall, but he continued to solidify his status as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner even in a loss to the Clemson Tigers.

Louisville came into an incredibly hostile Death Valley hoping to pull off an upset over the Tigers. Unfortunately, the Cardinals came out flat, including Jackson. Clemson went into halftime with a 28-10 lead while holding Lamar to zero touchdowns.

However, a dirty play from Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware late in the second quarter ignited a spark in Jackson. Boulware was seen trying to choke Jackson out in a pile, and the Louisville quarterback was furious after the play because the referees didn’t notice what had happened.

Lamar Jackson came out in the second half with a chip on his shoulder, and his teammates responded. The Cardinals rallied to take a 36-28 lead in the fourth quarter behind three touchdowns from Jackson, and although they went on to lose the game, it showed just how dangerous of a threat the Louisville quarterback could be, even against one of the most elite programs in the country.

Jackson’s torrid pace continued for the next four games, scoring at least two TDs in each one with a seven-touchdown performance against Boston College. The Louisville quarterback hit a lull with just one touchdown in back-to-back games against Wake Forest and Houston, but came back with four total TDs in the regular season finale against Kentucky.

Although the Cardinals lost back-to-back games to end the season, the program still had an incredible year, going 9-3 with a 7-1 record in the ACC. Jackson’s dominance on the field was a big reason for the team’s success, with the Cardinals QB racking up 3,300 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 1,538 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground.

Here’s a list of some of the accolades and records Jackson now has on his resume:

• ACC Player of the Year
• First player in FBS history with at least 3,300 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards
• ACC records for rushing yards by a QB, total touchdowns and rushing touchdowns by a QB
• Louisville records for total yards, passing touchdowns, 100-yard rushing games, total touchdowns, etc.
• Heisman Trophy winner

Despite all of the hype surrounding his performances, Jackson remained calm, cool and collected throughout the season. When he threw an interception, he came back to the sideline and stayed focused to keep his team in the game. He wasn’t afraid to celebrate, but Jackson consistently praised his teammates and criticized himself throughout the year.

Jackson even went as far as grading himself with an “F” in the win against Marshall despite picking up seven total touchdowns due to completing just 24 of 44 passes.

At just 19 years old, Jackson has become college football’s brightest star, and he will have a chance to repeat his success from this season in 2017.

There will be plenty of other players gunning for the Heisman next year, but the Louisville quarterback will be working all offseason to try and take the Cardinals to the College Football Playoff while winning the hardware for the second straight season in the process.