Lamar Jackson throws for four touchdowns and rushes for three more scores as No. 7 Louisville defeats Boston College 52-7. (0:57)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Louisville had (style) points to make against Boston College, and Lamar Jackson had already made them five minutes into the game.

So, about that No. 7 ranking, College Football Playoff selection committee:

Jackson ran untouched for a 69-yard touchdown on the third play of the game.

On his eighth play, Jackson lofted a 30-yard touchdown pass to James Quick.

Then for good measure, Jackson threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Virginia hero Jaylen Smith with the seconds ticking away in the first quarter.

Lamar Jackson lived up to the billing with seven total touchdowns against Boston College. AP Photo/Winslow Townson

The Cards throttled Boston College for 38 points in the first half alone and went on to win 52-7 Saturday afternoon, making a clear statement. Six teams in the country better than them? Louisville says, "Yeah, right."

"We had to come out and prove that we’re not a No. 7 team, we’re one of the best teams in the country," Smith said. "We deserve to be in that fourth spot. At least the fourth spot."

The committee might discount the opponent, the way they have with the overall Louisville schedule, but they absolutely should not. Louisville needed a dominating win over Boston College after what unfolded a week ago against Virginia.

Jackson and Smith had to save the day late with a game-winning touchdown to beat the Cavaliers, a team the Cards were favored to beat by 34 points. That performance came a few weeks after they looked unimpressive in a win over Duke.

The committee sent a clear message last Tuesday: Close wins against overmatched opponents just won’t do. Especially with a schedule for Louisville that features just one win over a ranked team (and no ranked teams down the stretch).

"I feel our team, we fought all year, and people still don't give us credit for it, for performing the way we do," Jackson said.

So Louisville came back with its own message: You like 63-20 victories, committee members? Is 70-14 more to your liking? Roger that.

All week during practice, coach Bobby Petrino saw a much more focused team. Players said they used the No. 7 ranking as extra motivation. From the very start, Louisville had no other choice than to pile up the points. The unfocused group that made way too many mistakes against Virginia? Banished. Jackson retained his Heisman front-runner status with another performance for the record books, scoring seven total touchdowns while becoming the first quarterback in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

Jackson has a whopping three games this season with seven or more total touchdowns. No other FBS player has more than one. He ran with ease and threw with ease, facing very little pressure from what is generally an aggressive Boston College defensive front.

His final touchdown run belongs on his already full Heisman highlight reel, as he somehow squirted through a jam-packed line featuring all 11 Boston College defenders and still ran 53 yards for a touchdown. Jackson’s day ended early in the fourth quarter, the sixth time this season he hasn’t played all four quarters because the score was out of reach.

In all, Jackson compiled 416 total yards and now has 45 total touchdowns on the season, just three away from breaking the ACC record (set by Deshaun Watson a year ago). Not only that, he is six ahead of the pace set by Hawaii's Colt Brennan in 2006, when he set the FBS single-season record (63 in 14 games).

It wasn’t all perfect. Jackson missed two drives in the second quarter with a cramp, fumbled and threw an interception. But his 71 percent completion percentage should make him smile, because that number is most important of all. It’s the first time since the season opener against Charlotte that he hit the 70 percent mark.

Up next is Wake Forest at home. With so much uncertainty about the playoff, a similar performance is a must -- though Petrino isn't convinced that's the best way to go.

“It’s sad because there’s something called sportsmanship, but maybe I made a mistake," Petrino said. "Maybe looking back at it, in Florida State, we should have kept all the starters in and scored 80 points and did that. But I don’t understand why it’s like that. I really don’t. And then you look at Clemson and the schedule they beat, the guys in the top 10 that they beat, and what Alabama has done, why isn’t Clemson rated No. 1?”