An ACC-SEC matchup is on tap Wednesday when Louisville meets Texas A&M in Nashville in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Why should you tune in? Here are three reasons:
1. Myles Garrett: The Texas A&M sophomore is one of the nation's best defensive ends. The Lombardi Award and Hendricks Award finalist leads the SEC in sacks (11.5), tackles for loss (18.5) and forced fumbles (five, one short of the A&M single-season school record). He's also as physically gifted as they come at his position, sporting a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, a 38.5-inch vertical jump, a 355-pound bench press and 528-pound deadlift. Just how impressive is the 6-foot-5, 262-pound Garrett? Check out this play from October in which he played the quarterback on an option and then chased down the running back from behind after the pitch to force a fumble. Unfair.
2. Lamar Jackson: When Jackson tucks the ball and runs, look out. The 6-3, 196-pound Louisville freshman quarterback is electrifying when running the ball. He has four games this season in which he ran for 100 yards and threw for 100 yards, tied with Clemson's Deshaun Watson and SMU's Matt Davis for the most such games in the FBS. Two of those games came against SEC competition: He threw for 100 and ran for 106 against Auburn in September, and threw for 130 and ran for a season-high 186 yards to lead Louisville to a comeback win over Kentucky after the Cardinals fell behind by 21 points. His 734 rushing yards leads the team despite not playing on a full-time basis -- he appeared in 11 games and started just six of them. He finished second in ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year voting and looks like a star in the making.
3. To see the last A&M QB standing: Mid-December wasn't kind to Texas A&M. Its top two quarterbacks -- sophomore Kyle Allen and freshman Kyler Murray -- transferred out of the program within a week of each other. That leaves the Aggies in a difficult yet fascinating position of having to start Jake Hubenak -- a transfer from Blinn College who arrived on campus only a day before training camp began in August -- in the Music City Bowl. What should we expect from Hubenak, who played sparingly in only four games as a reserve this season, in the game? How will the A&M offense look? Will they have to turn to Conner McQueen -- who didn't take a quarterback snap all season but served as a holder on placekicks -- at any point? The intrigue of the unknown that comes with starting Hubenak, a one-time Oklahoma State walk-on, should provide for interesting viewing, especially against a Louisville defense that was in the top 20 in the FBS in yards per play (4.79) and in the top 25 in sacks (33) and sack percentage (8.8). The Cardinals were 14th in the FBS in team defensive efficiency, so they'll be a challenge for an inexperienced quarterback.