Lamar Jackson was very pedestrian throughout most of the first half of the TaxSlayer Bowl... and then Lamar went all Lamar on Mississippi State.
Following an MSU fumble deep in U of L territory, Jackson ripped off a career-high 75-yard run on a quarterback draw with less than a minute left in the half to set up his second touchdown pass of the half, an 11-yard flip that gave the Cardinals a 21-17 halftime lead.
Jackson finished the first two quarters with 111 yards on the ground, an effort that included another one of his quintessential touchdown runs:
He did, though, throw back-to-back interceptions in the second quarter, although those turnovers only led to three Bulldogs points. The first of those picks, incidentally, was his first in 114 pass attempts.
That was part of a rocky effort in the passing game as Jackson completed just seven of his 16 passes for 107 yards. He did, though, set some history in the half.
With that rushing TD, Lamar Jackson becomes the third player in FBS history to join the 50-50 TD club (rushing, passing). #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/WY5wYNDqD9
— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) December 30, 2017
For the Bulldogs, Keytaon Thompson was very Lamar-like in the half. The freshman quarterback ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries while also going 9-of-11 passing for another 99 yards.