Lamar Jackson vs. NC State: Stats, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

After a minor hiccup last week, Lamar Jackson's Heisman campaign returned to top form in Louisville's 54-13 victory against North Carolina State on Saturday. 

Comp-Att	Pass Yards	TD-INT	Rush Att-Yds	Rush TDs
20-34	355	3-0	17-76	1

In Louisville's narrow win over Duke last week, Jackson accounted for a season-low 325 total yards. He did run for 144 yards and had two total touchdowns, but it was an underwhelming effort for the most electric player in college football this season. 

With seven days to prepare for the Wolfpack, Jackson wasted no time taking over this game. His 355 passing yards marked his third-highest total in a game this season and first time reaching the 300-yard barrier since September 24. 

ESPN College Football captured the perfect image—with a little help from Photoshop—of Jackson from Saturday's big win:

It was a historic day for Jackson. His 16-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Staples late in the second quarter gave him 34 total touchdowns on the season, setting a new school record, per ESPN Stats & Info:

While 34 touchdowns in just seven games is remarkable on its own, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports helped illustrate how dominant Jackson's season has been:

This was a huge step for Jackson as he continues to chase the Heisman and get Louisville back in the playoff picture. North Carolina State entered play with a 4-2 record and a defense that allowed 20 points in its last two games against Notre Dame and Clemson. 

The Notre Dame game does come with a caveat because it occurred as the state of South Carolina was in the midst of a torrential downpour, but overall the Wolfpack defense ranked 19th nationally in points allowed per game. 

FS1's Skip Bayless, who often looks for reasons to dismiss anyone not named Tim Tebow, even had to give Jackson high praise for Saturday's performance:

Per ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Louisville's first-half point total nearly equaled the number of yards NC State put up against the Cardinals defense:

There is no limit to how good the numbers look for Jackson this season. ESPN Stats & Info noted one rushing feat Louisville's star reached:

Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated offered a message to Heisman voters after watching Jackson pick apart NC State's defense:

It doesn't seem likely Heisman voters will find a way to get bored by Jackson, though his path to the trophy is far from being settled. 

Fair or not, Heisman voters have frequently shown they will push down a player with great stats if their team isn't in the national-title race. With one loss, Louisville's margin for error to get in the playoff is virtually non-existent. 

There have been some exceptions recently, like Robert Griffin III (2011) and Johnny Manziel (2012), which bodes well for Jackson because they were so far above the rest of college football in their respective seasons that it was impossible to vote for anyone else. 

The good news is Louisville still remains firmly in the playoff race, though there are some hurdles to climb in the rankings. The schedule does set up nicely down the stretch with a date at Houston on November 17, the only game left for the Cardinals against a ranked opponent. 

As long as Jackson continues to put up the numbers he has this season, it will be impossible for anyone to write another name on the top line of a Heisman ballot.