Louisville’s Lamar Jackson high-steps into the end zone for a touchdown in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Syracuse in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Lisi) If you don’t already know the name Lamar Jackson, it’s time to get familiar with it.
Jackson, Louisville’s standout quarterback, burst onto the scene in 2015 as a true freshman and steadily improved as the season progressed. He has taken his game to a new level so far in 2016.
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The sophomore played just a half in Louisville’s season-opening win over Charlotte, but he racked up 405 total yards (286 passing, 119 rushing) and eight (6 passing, 2 rushing) touchdowns in a 70-14 win. He picked up right where left off Friday night at Syracuse, totaling 483 yards (344 passing, 139 rushing) and five touchdowns (1 passing, 4 rushing) in the first half alone.
Jackson wouldn’t reach the end zone in the second half, but he continued to add yards on to his record-setting night. By the time the dust had settled and Cardinals pulled out the 62-28*win, Jackson (who sat out the final seven minutes of the game) finished with 411 yards passing and 199 yards on the ground — a total of 610 yards, an ACC record. He became the second player in FBS history with 400 passing yards and 150 rushing yards in a game and was just a single rushing yard away from becoming the only*player in FBS history to pass for*400 yards and rush for*200 yards in a game.
QB Lamar Jackson has 610 total yards tonight, most by a player in a game in ACC history. #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/Tnq5f1NgW8
— LouisvilleFootball (@UofLFootball) September 10, 2016
In particular, two of those rushing touchdowns especially showed off Jackson’s electric skillset. Louisville was already up 14-0 a few minutes into the game when Jackson kept on a read option, juked a Syracuse defender out of his shoes and scampered 72 yards to the end zone.
Lamar Jackson goes 72 yards for another score. It's 21-0 Louisville. Not even five minutes into the game. pic.twitter.com/HPjkwxcoe4
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) September 10, 2016
His fifth score of the game*was his best one. Jackson completely hurdled over Cuse defensive back Cordell Hudson at the five-yard line and tiptoed across the goal line.
Seriously. This is just unfair. Lamar Jackson is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/Vin8hlzpax
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) September 10, 2016
That score gave the Cardinals a 35-7 lead with 3:23 left in the half, but Syracuse responded with two touchdowns before going into the break, cutting the lead to 35-21.
Jackson wouldn’t reach the end zone in the second half, but he continued to add yards on to his record-setting night as the Cardinals pulled away from the overmatched Orange.*As a team, the Cardinals finished with a whopping 844*yards of total offense, a program record. And that number could have been even higher if not for a number of drops and turnovers from the offense.

Nonetheless, the dominant performance improved UL’s record to 2-0 headed into next Saturday’s home matchup with No. 3 Florida State. That should be a great one.
Syracuse dropped to 1-1.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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