HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- For one night in the hills of West Virginia, Lamar Jackson became a magnet. Even before Louisvilles cadre of buses arrived at Marshalls Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday afternoon, a crowd of fans gathered behind the northern end zone, waiting on him to show his face. A middle-aged man carried a magazine he hoped Jackson would sign. He already owned the autographs of Willie Mays and Babe Ruth, and now it was Jacksons turn. Soon, the mans pregnant and enduringly patient wife said, hed have to move all his memorabilia out of the spare bedroom to make room for the baby. Wearing green, it was clear the child would grow up rooting for the Thundering Herd.But allegiances didnt matter when Jackson stepped off the bus to the classic O Fortuna, which is a matter of ritual before every Louisville game. The drums boomed through the loudspeaker, and just like that, every eyeball gravitated toward Jackson, the Cardinals 19-year-old sophomore quarterback who has emerged as college footballs latest superstar. Anyone with a camera, cellphone or otherwise, pointed it straight at Jackson as he made a beeline toward the visiting locker room. Later, something as simple as a game of pitch-and-catch in shorts and a T-shirt drew the attention of at least a dozen on-field reporters.An over-capacity crowd of 40,592 came to witness the Lamar Jackson Experience. They were either going to love him or hate him for what he was about to do to Marshalls defense, but they wouldnt dare look away. Bill Koontz, a 1971 Marshall graduate, drove more than 10 hours from his home in Kansas City, Missouri, to be there. He knew the Herds four-game winning streak over Louisville was about to come to an end. But seeing Jackson in person brought some consolation.Hes Superman, Koontz said. The hell with Cam Newton.Even the referees couldnt keep their cool around Jackson. One official lurched into his pocket during pregame warm-ups as Jackson walked past him on the sideline, fumbling his phone as he rushed to take a picture. He couldnt get the darn thing steady in time. So after Louisville finished stretching, the official waved off all manner of pretense and simply asked Jackson to hold still.Before long, Jackson and the Cardinals were off and running, moving the chains at a blistering pace against an overmatched Marshall defense. Jackson bounced around in the pocket like a pinball, buzzed passes by the earholes of defenders, lobbed touchdowns down the sideline and shrugged off tacklers as he high-stepped into the end zone. Late in the game, a pair of Marshall ball boys stood on the Louisville sideline in awe of Jacksons effortless throwing motion. He flicked his wrist, and off it went like a dart, a tightly wound spiral each and every time.That ball, one of them said to the other, who shook his head in disbelief. I cant get over how pretty it is. Even the long ones. They dont break.Jackson, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, wound up passing for 417 yards and five touchdowns on the night. He scored twice more running the football as Louisville beat Marshall 59-28 to improve to 4-0.College footballs reigning touchdown king was ushered near midfield, where a television crew readied for a postgame interview. Jackson was deferential and kept the focus on his teammates. But defensive end Devonte Fields photobombed the live shot, walking through the background with a sign he borrowed from someone in the crowd. Lamar #8 Jackson For Heisman, it read. Fields shoved a Sharpie in Jacksons hand when the interview ended. Jackson grinned and gave it his sweeping signature.Moments later, a Marshall athletic trainer had something else for Jackson to autograph: a bright green cast wrapped around her right arm. A couple of paces away, a man and his 10-year-old son asked for a photo. Louisvilles director of football ops and the teams strength and conditioning coach shouted that there was no time, that they had to go. But Jackson ignored them, smiled for the camera and patted the boy on the head. Little Kahlief Tye muttered, Awesome, and couldnt manage another word. His big eyes refused to blink as Jackson jogged off the field and on to whats next.On to No. 5-ranked Clemson on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ABC). On to the next step in Louisvilles quest to crash the playoff. On to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City.While the rest of the country remains in a daze over the player he has become, Jackson is unfazed. The most electrifying athlete in college football doesnt need another minute to process what being a superhero means or how he has reached 25 touchdowns faster than any player in the past decade -- faster than Newton, faster than Manziel, faster than Mariota or Luck or Tebow. The man many in Louisville call La-Marvelous believed he could do it the entire time.***Lamar Jackson believes hes failing.No, seriously. Ask him.He gave himself a D grade after he scored five touchdowns against then-No. 2 Florida State two weeks ago. An interception bugged him.I think it was seven incomplete passes I threw, he said. Bad balls.Against Marshall, he was even harder on himself. He didnt bother to look down at the stat sheet placed in front of him at the postgame news conference. Final grade: F.Four hundred and seventeen yards and five touchdowns passing is an F? a reporter asked incredulously.How many completions did I have? Jackson shot back.24.Out of what?44.F, Jackson said, shaking his head. F.Its simple math, according to Jackson. Divide 24 by 44, and youll get 54.5 percent. Thats a failing grade in school, he explained.You wont find this in any textbook, but the exchange rate he abides by is four touchdowns for every one interception. Wideout Jaylen Smith said Jackson feels as if he owes that to his teammates when he makes a mistake. Jackson will throw an interception, score the necessary four TDs and tell the offense, All right, were even now.Hes a perfectionist, Smith said.Smith ought to know. The two were roommates last season. Theyd get home after a scrimmage or a game, and the first thing Jackson would do was pick up the phone and call his mother to tell her about everything he messed up on. Jackson wanted to make sure he pointed out all his flaws first, Smith said. Never mind that he scored 23 touchdowns and started seven games as a true freshman, all without knowing most of the playbook.Hes a great competitor, and sometimes when youre a great competitor, things eat at you, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. The things that absorb your thoughts are the mistakes you make, the ones you just miss. Sometimes you forget about all the really good plays and the great things you do.But what others see as greatness, Jackson sees as ordinary.That spectacular hurdle against Syracuse? He did the same thing during a game in high school at Boynton Beach in South Florida.That blinding speed he showed against Florida State? He ran track, and once won a foot race against NBA star Rajon Rondo.And that cannon for a right arm weve seen all year? Go find the video on YouTube of him throwing a ball from goal line to goal lineWhen Lamar Thomas, a former assistant at Louisville, began recruiting him, Jackson didnt want the typical deluge of compliments and empty promises. All it took was a handshake agreement with Petrino that he would be kept at quarterback. Then Jackson asked Thomas for a scouting report on all the quarterbacks on the roster, and the two sat and discussed their strengths and weaknesses.If he won the starting job, Jackson told Thomas, Im going to take it to the next stratosphere.It took some time to beat out the competition and even more time to learn Petrinos complex offense. But thats where the unique part of Jacksons perfectionism kicks in: He doesnt stay frustrated long. He drops his head, shakes his fist and then lets it roll right off his back.The first pass he ever threw in college was an interception against Auburn. Garrick McGee, who was then Louisvilles offensive coordinator, was worried about the rookie and asked him, Are you all right? He said Jackson told him, That doesnt bother me at all. Jackson just wanted back in. He went to the huddle and told his teammates, We have to score -- fast.Thats when I said to myself, This kid might be special. This guy might be what everyone was looking for, said McGee, who is now the offensive coordinator at Illinois. He was just thinking about what we had to do to win. And thats what separates him from anybody that Ive seen. It has nothing to do with him and his success. He just wants to win. It just so happens that to win hes going to score five touchdowns.What no one could have predicted is that hed average more than five touchdowns.Now McGee thinks the Heisman is Jacksons to lose. He called his former QB Michael Jordan in shoulder pads.It seems the only person who isnt in hysterics over his sudden success is Jackson himself. Since he was 7 years old, he said, he knew he wanted to be somebody playing football.Ive been working hard, he said. Ive been working very hard for a long time. Ive been praying and now its happening.***Sadly, in his quest to take over college football, Jackson has had to relinquish the NBA2K crown he claimed playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. He bought the latest version of the video game when it came out in September, but he hasnt had the energy to open it. When he got home from Marshall at 4 a.m. Sunday, all he wanted was to do was climb in bed and sleep. He rested most of the day, got treatment, lounged around and watched Netflix. Hes trying out the quasi-superhero show The Arrow right now. For comedies, his go-to movie is Friday.Other than that, its schoolwork, listening to the rapper Kodak Black and practice. Football is his hobby, he said. Getting anything more personal than that is a lost cause. Either hes not telling or theres nothing there. When his former high school coach was asked what Jackson does other than football, he said simply, He trains.Im at the stadium for fun. Jackson said. I dont really do anything.Lyndon Clemons, Jacksons former vice principal at Boynton Beach High, said its important to understand that Jackson is still only 19 years old. Theres not a lot extra, he explained. Jackson is an open book, but that doesnt mean there are many pages not earmarked for football. Whats more, his mother is a very private woman, and that has carried over to her son. Its going to take a while before theyre used to all this newfound attention.But watch Jackson long enough, and its easy to see why his nickname was Smiley Face as a child. On the sideline and around the football complex, hes always in a good mood. Even the way he speaks, barely above a whisper, draws you in. Hes effervescent. He seems to giggle constantly. Its only when you bring up the Heisman Trophy and his individual performance that he tightens up a bit.He expected the success, but he didnt understand all the cameras that would follow. Its probably the only thing he didnt plan for. He shuts it out by staying in his room, he said.Deangelo Brown, a Louisville defensive lineman who is one of a handful of fifth-year seniors on the team, said he has never seen Jackson talk about himself. He doesnt worry about Jackson becoming the next Johnny Manziel -- another young, second-year player who was all the rage before fame sent him careening off in the wrong direction -- because, Brown said, Jackson cares too much.Hes way more focused, Brown said. Hes not really all in the party scene, hes not really in all the flashes. Hes just a guy that loves football, loves to have fun, loves to win.Said Jackson: I stay on the path of maintaining. ... If you try to, like, dwell on that like youre the man or something, good things wont happen to you.If he keeps up his current pace, Jackson will break the FBS record for touchdowns (63) with two regular-season games to spare. Colt Brennan, who set the record in 2006 at Hawaii, had 10 fewer scores than Jacksons 25 through four games.On Saturday night in Death Valley, Jackson will go head-to-head against another former sophomore quarterback who found himself in the thick of the Heisman conversation last season: Clemsons Deshaun Watson.Tigers coach Dabo Swinney, like so many others, has fallen all over himself praising Jackson this week. He already has called him a right-handed Michael Vick and pointed out that hes not just a scrambler, but someone who can absolutely throw the ball all over the park.Lamar Jackson is a weapon, no question, Swinney said. He makes a lot of plays. Hes a handful.Brown said the game plan is simple: Stop Watson and keep feeding Lamar the ball.The more chances he gets, the more touchdowns he can score, Brown said.And at this point, any number of touchdowns shouldnt be surprising.After all, its time we all accepted a fact that Louisvilles star quarterback came to grips with long ago: Lamar Jackson belongs in the end zone. Andrew Whitworth Jersey . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Bobby Evans Rams Jersey . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic-greg-gaines-rams-jersey/ . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Orlando Pace Youth Jersey .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Deacon Jones Youth Jersey . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70.VANCOUVER -- Years from now Gleb Suvurov can tell his grandchildren about the night he beat Olympic champion Ryan Lochte. The 20-year-old Calgary resident outraced the five-time Olympic goal medallist in the 50-metre backstroke Saturday at the Mel Zajac Jr. International Canada Cup. Suvurov will be the first to say the 50 back isnt one of Lochtes favourites. And the 28-year-old from Daytona Beach, Fla., is using the meet, being held at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre, as training for the U.S. World Championship trials. Still, a win is a win. "It felt good," said Suvurov, who will represent Canada at next months World Student Games in Kazan, Russia. "Its not my best time but Im happy. "Lochte really wasnt tapered." Suvurov, who moved to Canada from Russia with his parents six years ago, was timed in 26.39 seconds. Lochte, who won both his races Friday night, was second in 26.52 seconds. The personable Lochte chuckled when asked about Suvurov now having bragging rights. "He better not get used to it, for my sake," he said. "He swam a good race. "The 50 back, I really cant say much about it. As far as Im concerned 50s should not be in swimming. Too short of an event for me. I need a couple of turns." Any frustration Lochte felt over the loss were worked out in the 200-metre individual medley which he won in a meet record time of two minutes 0.15 seconds. Suvurov was third in 2:06.66. "I just wanted to go out there and race tough," said Lochte, the world record holder in the 200 IM. "What me and my coach talked about was the race strategy and my stroke technique, hitting the walls right. "I showed tonight. I am on the right track." It also was a good night for Torontos Brittany MacLean, who has battled injuries all season. MacLean, who swims at Georgia, won the 400 freestyle in 4:13.32. "Its nice to see a good result," said the 19-year-old who finished seventh in the same event at the 2012 London Olympics. "Its a pretty decent time for me right now. "I worked my arms more than normal just because I have a little bit of a weak leg. It feelt great all the way through.dddddddddddd Im encouraged and excited to get faster for the summer." MacLean began the year with a shoulder problem, then hurt her hamstring while qualifying for the Canadian team that will compete at the World Championships in August. Prior to the nights first swim Olympic medallist Brent Hayden was recognized in a special retirement ceremony. The former 100-metre freestyle world champion, and three-time Olympian, was presented with a plaque that contained his swimming history plus photographs and memorabilia. "It was amazing," said the 29-year-old who retired after winning a bronze medal at last summers London Olympics. "Sometimes I have to remember exactly what it was I accomplished over 10 years. "It almost brought a tear to me eye." Hayden, who was born in Mission, B.C., and attended UBC, remains the Canadian record holder in the 200, 100 and 50-metre freestyle. Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., won her second race of the weekend, taking the 200-metre breaststroke in 2:29.51. "I think I can only get better from here," said Van Beilen. "This is still within a hard training block. So the fact I am where I am now, despite what happened last week, its positive for me. I can only keep smiling as much as I can right now." Other womens races winners included Vancouvers Noemie Thomas, who took the 100-metre butterfly in 58.78; Calgarys Ingrid Wilm won the 50 backstroke in 29.58; Tianna Rissling of Redcliff, Alta., won the 200 IM in 2:17.30; and American Natalie Hinds was victorious in the 50 freestyle in 25.87. Among the mens winners was Vancouvers Coleman Allen, who won the 100 butterfly in 54.71; Victorias Jeremy Bagshaw the 400 freestyle in 3:53.56; American Bradley deBorde took the 50 free in 23.67; and Andrew Poznikoff, of Drumheller, Alta., the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.44. The womens 4x200-metre relay was won by the University of Calgary team of Rissling, Breanna Hendriks, Lindsay Delmar and Fiona Doyle in 8:26.02. The mens 4x200 relay was won by the Team Alberta squad of Hunter Balch, Marshal Parker, Anthony Lyons and Jonathan Brown, in 7:40.59. ' ' '
