For now, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner needs the work.

Jackson directed two scoring drives in three possessions and the Baltimore Ravens’ defense throttled Jacksonville Jaguars backup quarterback Gardner Minshew in a 29-0 preseason victory Thursday night.

The Jaguars played without quarterback Nick Foles, the 2018 Super Bowl MVP who was signed as a free agent in March. Foles was one of 32 players who were either injured or rested by coach Doug Marrone in the preseason opener, which came after the teams held two joint practices earlier in the week.

Jackson, on the other hand, played the entire first quarter.

Asked to compare Marrone’s decision to rest Foles to his choice of playing Jackson, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, ”He’s a Super Bowl champion. Do you think he needs to play a game in the preseason? Our guy’s in his second season. It’s an easy decision.”

Jackson went 4 for 6 for 59 yards and a touchdown. Looking to pass rather than flash the speed that enabled him to rush for 695 yards last year, Jackson completed a 30-yarder to Chris Moore on his first throw of the night to set up a 52-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.

Jackson’s second crack at the ball resulted in a four-and-out, but not long after that, he capped his brief night of work with a 6-yard TD pass to Willie Snead for a 10-0 lead.

”I feel we did pretty good, for the most part,” said Jackson, who had no complaints about being on the field in early August.

”Whatever the coach wants,” he said. ”I’m only a sophomore in the league. I really haven’t done anything. We’re going to play ball. I love it.”

With Foles on the sideline, Minshew, drafted in the sixth round out of Washington State, proved to be fodder for a defense that last year was ranked No. 1. Minshew lost his helmet when struck on a first-quarter foray out of the pocket, and in the second quarter he got hit a whole lot harder after mishandling a snap. Minshew quickly picked up the ball, just an instant before Kenny Young swooped in untouched and applied a crushing tackle that separated the quarterback from his helmet – again.

”I think it looked a lot cooler than it felt,” Minshew said. ”It looked very bad, but when you don’t see it, it isn’t that bad.”

Still, the Jaguars gave up four sacks and completed only 10 passes.

”Gardner was hit a lot. We didn’t do a lot of things upfront. That’s a concern,” Marrone said.

Minshew was mercifully lifted after going 7 for 14 for 46 yards. Tanner Lee started the third quarter and was immediately sacked twice before throwing an interception that Cyrus Jones returned 19 yards for a touchdown for a 26-0 lead.

Foles likely would have done much better, but Marrone wasn’t interested in finding out.

”We have to figure out who is the No. 2 quarterback and keep playing him,” the coach said. ”It’s not like you have a lot of game time, where it really counts. We have to keep playing these guys and see who is our backup quarterback.”

Jacksonville’s only entry into the end zone, on an early kickoff return by Keelan Cole, was wiped out by a penalty.

Former Penn State quarterback and sixth-round draft pick Trace McSorley made his NFL debut for Baltimore, completing 9 of 22 passes for 85 yards and an interception.

WINNING COUNTS

The Ravens haven’t lost a preseason game since 2015, winning 14 straight.

”I’m still mad about that one,” Harbaugh said about the 20-19 defeat to Atlanta on Sept. 3, 2015. ”We like to win. I think winning is better than losing, and we don’t do much different than anybody else.”

INJURIES

Jaguars: Backup LB D.J. Alexander sustained a stinger. … RB Ryquell Armstead was evaluated for a concussion.

UP NEXT

Jaguars: Perhaps Marrone figured it would be a far better storyline if Foles made his Jaguars debut against his former team, Philadelphia, next Thursday night in Jacksonville.

Ravens: The Green Bay Packers come to town to help Baltimore close out the home portion of its preseason schedule next Thursday night.

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The Louisville quarterback got a glimpse of the one he really wants.

On a red-carpet night in Atlanta, Jackson captured the Maxwell Award as the nation’s top college player Thursday night and signaled himself as the clear favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

Jackson already won the Walter Camp Award, also given to the best player.

”I’m shocked. I’ve got butterflies. I never had those before,” the sophomore said, posing with his Maxwell Award after a ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame, where eight other award winners were announced.

In an interesting twist, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson claimed the Davey O’Brien award as the nation’s top quarterback for the second year in a row – beating out Jackson.

Now it’s on to New York, where they’re both finalists for college football’s most prestigious individual award.

”He’s a tremendous player himself. He’s done lot of great things,” Jackson said of Watson. ”If he does (win the Heisman), oh well. Best man.”

Both quarterbacks got a look at a 25-pound Heisman Trophy on display in the Hall of Fame.

Jackson was impressed by the size.

”It’s a big trophy,” he said. ”I’m going to need to do some more push-ups.”

Maybe not.

Watson hasn’t given up on his dream of claiming the Heisman before he heads off to the NFL. He won’t return for his senior season, having already earned his college degree in just three years.

”I have a lot of confidence in the way I’ve played over the course of the season,” said Watson, who finished third in the Heisman race a year ago behind winner Derrick Henry of Alabama and runner-up Christian McCaffrey of Stanford.

While the Maxwell voting is a solid indication of how the Heisman race might go, it’s no guarantee. In fact, only two of the last five winners – Henry and Marcus Mariota in 2014 – went on to capture the more illustrious award.

Watson is holding out hope that he’ll pull out a come-from-behind victory over Jackson, who had been considered the overwhelming favorite until the Cardinals lost their last two games.

Even with that, Jackson’s numbers are mind-boggling. He passed for 3,390 yards and 30 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,538 yards and 21 TDs.

Watson guided Clemson to another Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a second straight appearance in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers will meet Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on New Year’s Eve.

As for his Heisman chances, Watson said confidently, ”I’m expecting to win. I always expect to have success.”

He’s already a huge success – on and off the field. Watson took his last final exam Wednesday in a political communication class.

”Next Thursday at this time, I will have a degree in hand and be a graduate,” he said. ”It feels great.”

Also during the awards ceremony televised by ESPN:

– Top-ranked Alabama picked up a couple of honors leading into its Peach Bowl semifinal against Washington, which will be held at the nearby Georgia Dome. End Jonathan Allen claimed the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player, while offensive tackle Cam Robinson earned the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman. Allen’s latest award – he already won the Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks – further justified his decision to return to Tuscaloosa for his senior year. ”I couldn’t imagine my senior season going better than this,” he said.

– D’Onta Foreman provided a bright spot to Texas’ dismal season by winning the Doak Walker Award as the top college running back. He rushed for more than 2,000 yards and defied skeptics who said he would have to change position in college. ”With everything going on in our program,” he said, referring to the firing of coach Charlie Strong, ”I’m glad to bring this back to the Texas community.”

– Oklahoma’s Dede Westbrook claimed the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s outstanding receiver after teaming with quarterback Baker Mayfield for 74 receptions, 1,465 yards and 16 touchdowns in a Big 12 championship season. Mayfield was a finalist for both the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien but didn’t win either.

– Adoree’ Jackson of Southern Cal, decked out in a blue tux, picked up the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back and doled out fashion tips afterward. One bit of advice: Don’t spend a lot of money on the shoes. ”I’m an H&M sort of guy,” he said. ”They look good but they’re pretty cheap.”

– Zane Gonzalez of Arizona State received the Lou Groza trophy as the top kicker, while the Ray Guy Award for best punter went to Utah’s Mitch Wishnowsky, the latest in a wave of Australians who have revolutionized the position.

In addition, Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre was recognized as the previously announced winner of The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award, Pittsburgh running back James Connor earned with the Disney Spirit Award as most inspirational player for overcoming cancer, and retired coach Steve Spurrier received the Contributions to College Football Award.

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .

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Jackson was honored during a ceremony Thursday night. The other finalists were Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and Michigan all-around star Jabrill Peppers.

The Cardinals quarterback already picked up the Walter Camp Award as the top college player, but the one he really wants is still to come. Jackson is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy that will be handed out Saturday in New York.

Jackson put up some staggering numbers in his sophomore season, throwing for 3,390 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 1,538 yards and 21 touchdowns.

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For more AP college football coverage: www.collegefootball.ap.org

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Their fortunes had changed several hours later after a 44-12 rout that might also improve Louisville’s playoff outlook.

A wild weekend featuring upset losses by the No. 3 Tigers , No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Washington shook up the rankings and vaulted Louisville three spots to No. 3, where it was in late September. Whether similar reshuffling occurs when playoff rankings are updated Tuesday night remains to be seen; the Cardinals (9-1, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 6 CFP) are focused only on themselves entering another challenge Thursday night at Houston (8-2).

”We just need to win our games,” quarterback Lamar Jackson said after accounting for one touchdown against the Demon Deacons. ”We can’t worry about that (rankings) right now. We just have to play Houston. We weren’t really trying to worry about who’s going to win, who’s going to lose, we just had to play our game. It was a close game with us, and anything can happen.”

Clemson still holds the tiebreaker over Louisville after its Oct. 1 victory over the Cardinals and can clinch the Atlantic Division title by beating Wake Forest on Saturday. But Louisville is where it wanted to be in the playoff picture and aims to keep going.

Louisville’s latest victory almost symbolized its pattern of following dominating wins – most of which were decided early – with tense outcomes against heavy ACC underdogs. What was different against Wake Forest was that the Cardinals dominated late and got things started behind someone other than Jackson, their Heisman Trophy front-runner.

Wake Forest built a 12-0 lead by converting three first-half fumbles into field goals, limiting Jackson’s passing lanes and sacking him four times. Louisville turned to running back Brandon Radcliff in the third quarter, and he shifted momentum with three TDs as the Cardinals scored 41 points over the final 22 1/2 minutes.

”It was tough for us,” said Radcliff, whose 55-yard TD run started the scoring deluge. ”We were trying to get our momentum. We know we’re a great offensive team and it takes just one play for us to get back in rhythm. That’s what we were trying to do the whole time.”

Jackson contributed a short TD pass late to avoid being held scoreless for the first since last November against Virginia. The sophomore combined for 298 of Louisville’s 491 yards.

”It’s good for him to have a game like this, where it wasn’t just so easy,” coach Bobby Petrino said. ”It’s only the fourth time this year he had to finish the whole game, so I think it’s good.”

Louisville’s defense deserves the biggest nod for holding Wake Forest to field goals before yielding just 37 second-half yards and 214 overall, along with seven sacks. That wasn’t easy considering it spent more than 38 minutes on the field and had no time for scoreboard watching.

Petrino says he didn’t learn Pitt had beaten Clemson or that USC was leading Washington until afterward (the Trojans won 26-13). He seemed happier that his team avoided becoming upset victims on a day of upheaval in the top 10.

Louisville faces a similar task with just a few days to prepare for Houston, which won here 34-31 last season. While the Cougars no doubt aim to play spoiler, the Cardinals seem prepared for this latest hurdle after clearing several in recent weeks.

”That’s a pretty good team they have, so we just have to be ready,” Jackson said. ”We just have to go down there and fight hard.”

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