Louisville Football: 5 bold predictions vs. Mississippi State in Taxslayer Bowl
By Shelbie Warr
5. Lamar Jackson will be the player of the game
Lamar Jackson was the 2016 Heisman trophy winner. He finished that season with over 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns, averaging 8.7 yards a pass. On the ground, he added another 21 touchdowns and 1,571 yards. This season, he finished with just under 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. He added another 17 touchdowns with 1,443 yards on the ground. While those numbers did decrease a bit, his completion percentage went up a whole four percent.
Clemson banks on Lamar Jackson running this out of a passing play. Drop all 4 DL and blitz two others. Instead Lamar stays patient and throws away from the defender for a TD. #NorrisNotes pic.twitter.com/B6kiojSvVy
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) December 27, 2017
Without the presence of Nick Fitzgerald for Mississippi State, Jackson is likely to be one of the most productive offensive players on the field for either team. He has been strong week in and week out and despite a less than stellar 8-4 season, including a loss to Wake Forest. However, they have a nice three game win streak going and are looking to extend that to four. State has a strong defense, however so does Clemson and look at what Jackson was able to do to them in the above video.
It is not official that Lamar Jackson will declare for the draft. He says that he will make that decision after the coming bowl game. However, he did comment on how other players will be skipping their bowl games in favor of the draft and how he has no interest in doing that.
My bold prediction? Jackson throws three touchdown passes and runs for one more as the MVP of the Taxslayer Bowl.