Kentucky has a dog in Will Levis: "He just doesn't take a second off"

On3 imageby:Zack Geoghegan11/28/21

ZGeogheganKSR

Will Levis has completely flipped the narrative of how Kentucky Football’s offense is being viewed, and it took him just 12 games to do so.

While the Kentucky quarterback doesn’t deserve 100 percent of the credit, he certainly is due the largest chunk. Mark Stoops has never had a high-quality passer in Levis during his tenure as head coach at Kentucky. The quarterback proved himself from day one, slinging four touchdowns for 367 yards in the season-opener.

It hasn’t been a perfect season for Levis, but easily the most impressive overall performance from a Wildcat QB in well over a decade. He’s averaging over 215 passing yards per game with a 66.5 completion percentage. He’s tossed 23 touchdowns and run for nine more.

He’s just a competitor. That’s just who he is,” Kentucky’s first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen said after the 52-21 win over Louisville on Saturday. “It’s every single day, it’s every single meeting, it’s every single walkthrough, it’s every single practice. He never takes a second off. He just doesn’t take a second off.

“He doesn’t ever want to settle for mediocrity. He pushes the standard and that’s what we’re continuing to try to do is push the standard of what we’re trying to get done here on offense. It’s all we can control. I know that the team feeds off of him for sure. He’s just a dog.”

Levis played arguably his best game as a Wildcat in the Governor’s Cup victory. The total statistics might not say so, but the way he flawlessly executed for four straight quarters was unbelievable.

The Penn State transfer went for 149 passing yards on 14-18 attempts through the air; a QB rating of 99.3. It was just the third game all season Levis did not throw an interception. Where he truly dominated the matchup, however, was through his legs.

Levis scurried for a career-high 113 yards on the ground, tying a program record in rushing touchdowns with four on the evening. Each score was followed by double L’s down in the back of the Cardinal end zone.

Coen said after the game that he didn’t even dial-up that many running plays for Levis. The majority of Levis’ 14 carries were a result of him noticing a breakdown in Louisville’s defense and taking quick advantage of it.

“We really didn’t have a ton of true designed runs besides a few of the draws that we hit early on,” Coen said. “(Levis) made plays. Third downs, whatever we were on third down, how many of them were him just converting with his feet?”

Levis completed six first downs with his legs when Kentucky was facing a third or fourth down; all of them coming in the first half as the ‘Cats built its sizable lead. As a team, UK went 6-10 on third downs and 1-1 on fourth down. Levis accounted for six of those seven conversions running the ball.

“It’s just something that I’ve been able to continually grow in myself and understand when it’s necessary and when the right time is to take off,” Levis said after the win.

Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield admitted in the postgame that he didn’t expect Levis to run all the Cardinals. Satterfield essentially confirmed that he hasn’t watched any tape on Levis at all this season, but even if he did, it probably wouldn’t have mattered.

Coen said that UL was playing man defense up until third downs, where the unit would then switch to zone. As a result, Levis exploited every gap on his way to a career night against his new most-hated rival.

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2024-03-28