By Sam Draut–

Final- Louisville defeats Texas A&M 27-21.

Jackson picks up the first down on a read-option, Louisville will be able to bleed out the clock.

1:22 fourth quarter- Texas A&M calls a timeout. Louisville has the ball on the 32 yard line, third down and three.

1:39 fourth quarter- Hubenak’s pass falls incomplete, Louisville will take over on downs.

Call on the field is reversed, Texas A&M ball, 3rd and 8 on the 24 yard line.

1:40 fourth quarter- Texas A&M driving after an illegal hands to the face call puts them near the red zone, then Hubenak completes a 17 yard pass to Kirk to the six yard line. The catch is under review. Louisville leads 27-21.

3:52 fourth quarter- Texas A&M takes over on the 21 yard line after the defensive stop.

4:04 fourth quarter- Texas A&M takes a timeout after stuffing Bonnafon on a read-option. Louisville has the ball, 3rd and four on the 25 yard-line. Big play coming up after the timeout, it is hard to say its the play of the game, but the upcoming third and 4 is huge for both teams.

4:54 fourth quarter- Hubenak completes a 29 yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk. Louisville leads Texas A&M 27-21. Drive summary: 8 plays, 86 yards, 2:11.

7:06 fourth quarter- Texas A&M takes over on the 14 yard line.

11:10 fourth quarter- Taylor Bertolet misses a 39 yard field goal attempt, Louisville takes over on the 21 yard line. Fields had his third sack of the game on the drive, his single-game season high this season.

End of the third quarter- Louisville leads Texas A&M 27-14. Cardinals will start with the ball on their own 31 yard line, 2nd and 7. Big drive for Louisville, a field goal would make it a three-possession game. After staying away from the read-option in the second quarter, Petrino got back to it in the third quarter and Jackson made some big plays. Jackson seta new freshman record with 412 yards of total offense through three quarters.

3:01 third quarter- Jackson hits tight-end Keith Towbridge for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Louisville leads 27-14. Drive went 7 plays, 73 yards, 2:54. Big drive for Louisville, the Cardinals hadn’t scored since the first quarter, pushes the lead to two possessions.

5:44 third quarter- Jackson finds wide-receiver Jaylen Smith for a 17 yard gain. Smith juggled the ball on the way down, so the play is being reviewed.

5:55 third quarter- Harvey-Clemons intercepts a pass at the 27-yard-line, his first interceptions since Louisville’s season opener.

7:00 third quarter- Jackson throws the ball out of bounds after receiving heavy pressure on 4th and 7 on the 32-yard-line, Texas A&M will take over on downs. Cardinals couldn’t cash in on the first turnover of the game. Louisville is 0 for 3 on fourth down conversions.

9:13 third quarter- Josh Harvey-Clemons forces a fumble, James Hearns recovers, Louisville takes over at the 49 yard line.

9:23 third quarter- Another injury timeout. Texas A&M has the ball on the Louisville 47-yard-line, 3rd and 17. After a few questionable calls, Petrino is giving it to the officiating crew.

13:04 third quarter- On third and 17, Quick received a pass and made an excellent effort, but was ruled just short of the first down marker. Louisville goes for it on fourth and one, but pass to Crum falls incomplete.

Halftime- Louisville leads Texas A&M 20-14. Cardinals put up 358 yards of total offense. Jackson has rushed for 138 yards and completed eight of 15 passes for 187 yards. The freshman quarterback has ran for two touchdowns and passed for another. Texas A&M has 243 yards of total offense and held Louisville scoreless in the second quarter.

42 seconds left in second quarter- Jackson’s pass falls incomplete on 4th and six, A&M takes over, now 3rd and 19 on the 24 yard line.

1:01 second quarter- Louisville facing a 4th and 1 after Jackson runs for a nine yards. Play is under review, Jackson may have gotten over the first down mark before going out of bounds.

1:07 second quarter- Louisville calls a timeout. Cardinals have the ball on the A&M 37-yard-line. Jackson completed a 28 yard pass to Staples and then a 15 yard completion to Quick.

Official attendance announced: 50,478.

1:51 second quarter- Ricky Seals-Jones catches a four yard touchdown pass from Hubenak. Louisville leads Texas A&M 20-14. 8 plays, 97 yards, 3:54.

2:42 second quarter- Carson runs for 55 yards, setting up A&M on the 4-yard-line. Pio Vatuvei goes down after the play, brief stop in play.

5:45 second quarter- Josh Appleby pins a punt on the three-yard line, Texas A&M be backed up near its own end zone trailing 20-7.

7:16 second quarter- Texas A&M goes for it on fourth down, but pass falls incomplete. Louisville will take over on its own 40 yard line.

7:58 second quarter- Texas A&M calls a timeout, facing 3rd and six on Louisville’s 40 yard-line. Louisville leads 20-7.

12:06 second quarter- Louisville holds A&M to a three and out, Cardinals take over on the seven-yard line after the punt. Stacy Thomas, the replacement for Burgess leads the Louisville defense with six tackles.

12:57 second quarter- John Wallace misses a 49-yard field goal after Louisville moves the ball to the 32 yard line.

End of the first quarter- Louisville leads Texas A&M 20-7. A&M will start the second quarter on its own 39 yard line, 3rd and six.

1:14 first quarter- Jackson runs for a ridiculous 61-yard touchdown. Louisville leads 20-7. Jackson weaved in and out of A&M defenders, bursting through the secondary on a fast read-option. Drive: 3 plays, 82 yards, 1:07. Jackson has now rushed for 126 yards, his fifth game of rushing for over 100 yards.

2:05 first quarter- Hikutini is held on first down, A&M flagged and Louisville takes the 10 yard penalty. James Quick has a seven yard reception as Louisville nears midfield.

2:25 first quarter- Tra Carson rushes in from nine yards, Texas A&M cuts the deficit to 13-7. 8 plays, 70 yards in 2:50. 33 yards were picked up on a long pass after Washington fell down in coverage.

4:39 first quarter- Texas A&M converts on third down, has the ball on its own 42 yard line, 1st and 10.

5:22 first quarter- Jackson finds tight-end Micky Crum in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown pass. John Wallace misses the extra point attempt. Louisville leads Texas A&M 13-0. 4 plays, 21 yards, 1:19.

5:57 first quarter- Jackson rushes for 15 yards to the 5-yard line. He fumbles, but is ruled down. Texas A&M calls a timeout to review the play.

6:41 first quarter- Jaire Alexander returns the A&M punt 32 yards, setting up Louisville on the 21 yard line. Louisville leads 7-0.

8:37 first quarter -Louisville picked up one first down, but punted to A&M, who takes over on the 18 yard line. On the preceding drive, Jackson broke the all-time quarterback rushing record at U of L. The freshman has already rushed for 50 yards tonight.

10:27 first quarter- Texas A&M punts after picking up one first down on the drive. On third down, A&M quarterback Jake Hubenak’s pass was tipped and cornerback Trumaine Washington almost had an interception, but the ball dropped to the ground harmlessly after he bobbled it.

11:24 first quarter- Louisville leads 7-0. Texas A&M ball on the their own 39 yard line. Trevon Young down on the field. Carting is coming out, Louisville will be down three starters on defense: Young, Burgess and Shaq Wiggins. Wiggins was hurt on the first play from scrimmage when Burgess was ejected for targeting.

11:56 first quarter- Lamar Jackson runs in from 6-yards. Louisville leads 7-0. Jackson set up the score with a 56-yard pass to Cole Hikutini. Five plays, 80 yards, 1:51.

Burgess is disqualified after the ruling on the field is confirmed. Big loss for Louisville, and especially disheartening for one of the best linebackers in recent memory for Louisville.

James Burgess drills an A&M receiver on the first play from scrimmage, is flagged for targeting, a 15-yard penalty. The play is under review.

Texas A&M receives the kickoff and returns the ball 18 yards to open on the 25 yard line.

15 minutes before kickoff- the stadium is starting to fill in, Louisville side has a better crowd thus far. With Nissan Stadium only a two and a half hour drive away, Cardinal fans went through three sets of ticket allotments.

On a side note, offensive guard Skylar Lacy did not make the trip with the team to Nashville. Lacy started nine games this season and will be replaced by Kiola Mahoni.

 

After more than a month since its final regular season game, Louisville faces Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee.

Louisville (7-5) won five of its last six games to clinch its sixth consecutive bowl appearance while Texas A&M finished the year 8-4 after winning its first five games.

Coach Bobby Petrino said Lamar Jackson would be the starting quarterback a few weeks ago, and the freshman spent much of the bowl practices working to become a better true quarterback.