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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Lamar Jackson's latest fantastic performance didn't live up to his own lofty standards.
Jackson capped off a September to remember with another solid effort against an overmatched opponent, throwing for a career-high 417 yards and accounting for seven touchdowns in No. 3 Louisville's 59-28 win over Marshall on Saturday night.
The sophomore threw five touchdown passes and ran for two more scores. He completed 24 of 44 passes against a Marshall secondary whose most experienced player had five starts.
Some of those incompletions stuck with him after the game and he gave himself a failing grade.
"I was overthrowing my receivers," Jackson said. "I'm hot about that right now."
Louisville (4-0) didn't slow down against a nonconference opponent on the road a week after beating Florida State 63-20 at home.
After a punt and a missed field goal on two of their first three series, Jackson said the Cardinals "got mad at ourselves. We're used to going out there and executing everything right.
"We started off bad and in my mind I was like we need to make something happen. We got into our groove."
The Cardinals raced to a 35-7 halftime lead on Marshall and cruised in the second half to break a four-game losing streak to the Thundering Herd. Jackson's scoring passes covered 71, 8, 30, 8 and 51 yards.
"The things we wanted him to do, he did a good job with," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "I think we had to earn it tonight."
Louisville surpassed 600 yards of offense for the third time this season.
Marshall (1-2) was limited to 207 yards in the first start for freshman quarterback Garet Morrell. Chase Litton missed the game with an undisclosed injury that was announced an hour before kickoff. Marshall coach Doc Holliday said Litton didn't practice all week.
Marshall has lost 15 straight to ranked opponents and has yet to beat a ranked team at home since joining the FBS in 1997.
"There is no question, that's an excellent football team," Holliday said of Louisville. "That quarterback is a special guy."
THE TAKEAWAY
LOUISVILLE: Jackson simply hasn't been stopped, although Marshall's pass rush at times forced him into inaccurate throws. His 62 rushing yards meant that his streak of five straight 100-yard rushing games dating to last season came to an end. After four games, he's thrown 13 TD passes and run for 12 more scores.
MARSHALL: The Thundering Herd need Litton back in a hurry and could use some help on defense after allowing 124 points in their last two games. Holliday said the only positives he took away from the game were the play of running backs Anthony Pittman (54 yards) and Anthony Anderson (46).
"We've need to get better in all three phases, come back (Sunday) and go to work," Holliday said.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
With No. 2 Ohio State idle, Louisville could gain some votes in the AP Top 25 poll but it might not be enough to overtake the Buckeyes.
RUNNING RADCLIFF
Jackson hasn't done it alone. Brandon Radcliff had his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 131 yards on 19 carries.
PENALTIES GALORE
Louisville was penalized 12 times for 143 yards. Marshall, which entered the game averaging an FBS-worst 12.5 penalties per game, was flagged nine times for 95 yards. Kendall Gant was ejected in the second quarter for targeting during a punt return.
UP NEXT
LOUISVILLE: Heads to No. 5 Clemson with a chance to strengthen its perch at the top in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division after beating No. 13 Florida State last week.
MARSHALL: Closes out nonconference play at Pittsburgh.
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