Lamar Jackson’s Superhuman Performance Carries No. 17 Louisville Past UNC

Lamar Jackson lived up to the hype and then some on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium, as the reigning Heisman Trophy winner torched UNC for 525 total yards and six touchdowns in No. 17 Louisville’s 47-35 victory over the Tar Heels.

Jackson’s performance was statistically the best ever by a UNC opponent.

No player had ever racked up more than 500 yards individually against the Tar Heels, but the junior quarterback showed fans in attendance just how special he truly is on the way to handing UNC (0-2, 0-1 ACC) its second consecutive loss to begin the season.

Although the Tar Heels came out with a game plan intended to limit Jackson’s explosive plays, it’s safe to say that it didn’t have much success.

The Louisville star simply took what he wanted, when he wanted.

After UNC briefly took the lead with a touchdown in the second quarter, Jackson responded with a 75-yard scoring toss on the first play of the next drive.

He then came out after halftime and darted straight through the Tar Heel defensive line for a 43-yard touchdown run in which he hardly appeared human.

That was the theme all game long, as head coach Larry Fedora and company hung around for most of the afternoon—but were consistently trying to play catch up with the most explosive player in college football.

“Lamar Jackson is every bit as good as everybody says he is, and thinks he is,” Fedora told reporters after the game. “The guy is pretty special. He made some things happen today that most people can’t do. And then we gave him some opportunities you can’t give a guy [like that].”

In total, Louisville (2-0, 1-0 ACC) racked up a whopping 705 yards of offense as a team against a UNC defense which positioned itself heading into the year as the Tar Heels’ strength.

Instead, miscommunications, blown coverages and frustration reigned supreme against a man hell-bent on taking advantage of them.

Junior linebacker Cayson Collins stopped short on giving too many specifics in order to prevent throwing teammates under the bus, but he seemed disgusted when discussing the struggles on that side of the ball—especially the fact that Louisville converted on nine of its 15 third down opportunities.

“We couldn’t get off the field,” Collins said, with a blank stare in his eyes. “One of our goals is to get off the field on third down, and we weren’t really able to do that.”

Jackson’s outstanding performance overshadowed the few bright spots that the Tar Heels did receive on Sunday, but it certainly doesn’t mean there weren’t any.

Quarterbacks Chazz Surratt and Brandon Harris combined to complete 29 of their 37 pass attempts for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Anthony Ratliff-Williams returned a third quarter kickoff for a touchdown. Punter Tom Sheldon put on a clinic by averaging over 53 yards on his four attempts.

And on top of all of that, the Tar Heels even managed to take a 28-27 lead into the beginning of the fourth quarter—despite being outgained by 300 yards.

Mr. Heisman simply proved to be too much at the end, however, as he accounted for three touchdowns in the final period to seal the deal.

“It’s discouraging,” Fedora said. “When you lose a game, I don’t really care how I lose it. It’s a loss.

“We win as a team, we lose as a team,” he added. “We didn’t do enough on offense to win a football game. We didn’t do enough on defense to win a football game.”

“We did enough in the special teams to win a football game, but we still gotta get better in both of those other phases.”

Up Next:

UNC heads on its first road trip of 2017 next week when it travels to face FCS opponent Old Dominion next Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.

Game Notes:

• Jackson was the first reigning Heisman Trophy winner to ever play at Kenan Stadium.
• Louisville’s 705 yards were the third-most ever gained against UNC in a single game.
• Tight end Brandon Fritts caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Tar Heels, his second multiple TD game of his career–and first since 2015.
• UNC senior receiver Austin Proehl set a new career high with eight catches for 120 yards.

 

FINAL STATS

 

 

Cover photo via Gerry Broome (Associated Press)