NASHVILLE – Lamar Jackson ran for a career-high and Music City Bowl-record 226 yards and two touchdowns and threw for two more scores to help Louisville beat Texas A&M 27-21 on Wednesday night.
The freshman, making his first start since Oct. 30, finished with a bowl-record 453 total yards, and set the Louisville career rushing mark before the end of the first quarter in giving the Cardinals a 20-7 lead they never lost. Jackson ran for 126 yards in the first 15 minutes, including a 61-yard scoring run.
Louisville (8-5) won for the eighth time in 10 games. The Cardinals also had third bowl victory in their past four trips.
Texas A&M (8-5) became the first Southeastern Conference team to lose this bowl season. The Aggies made it interesting in the final minutes with their third-string quarterback making his first career start.
Josh Hubenak started after both Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray transferred this month. Hubenak shook off five sacks and two turnovers to throw for 307 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk with 4:54 left that pulled the Aggies to 27-21.