Louisville football: 3 things we learned from their win over Purdue

1. Lamar Jackson wants to be a pocket passer

The Louisville Cardinals came out with a relatively conservative look on offense. Quarterback Lamar Jackson came out and didn’t look to press too much with his legs, but instead he looked to throw the ball.

Jackson put his arm on display while saving his legs in Week One and he looked good doing it. He was 30-for-46 with 378 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. He did have 20 carries for 103 rushing yards but nothing was forced.

Jackson was dealing to a plethora of wide receivers. He completed a pass to nine different receivers in the game. He avoided being sacked in the game as well.

As a result of Jackson strictly sticking to the pocket, the Cardinals running game took a hit. A team that averaged 242.2 rushing yards in 2016 put up just 92 rushing yards against the Purdue Boilermakers.

The running backs didn’t help their case in the game by fumbling the ball twice in the game. Wide receiver Jaylen Smith had the third fumble of the game on a catch-and-run in the third quarter.

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Even without a running back, Jackson led the Cardinals on a drive late in the fourth quarter with his accuracy on full display. He went 3-for-5 with 63 passing yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick to put the Cardinals up 32-28 with 9:01 left in the game.

He did have a 12-yard rush on the drive, but it was a designed play which in turn opened up the middle of the field for the pass.