Jeff Ruby's KSR Today: Will Levis headed to NFL; Volleyball battles in Sweet 16
Good morning, folks! We’re expecting another big day in the world of UK Athletics.
For starters, the Kentucky volleyball team is up in Palo Alto, CA for the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The No. 12 ranked Wildcats will go head-to-head against the No. 3 ranked San Diego Toreros on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU in a win-or-go-home scenario.
Kentucky, which entered the tournament as a three-seed and hosted the opening two rounds at Memorial Coliseum (where they swept both opponents: Loyola-Chicago and Western Kentucky), is seeking its second national championship in school history and second in three years. Head coach Craig Skinner’s squad is loaded with top-end talent once again, highlighted by SEC Player of the Year Emma Grome and several All-SEC players.
Grome, a sophomore setter, wasn’t with the national title team in 2020, but she certainly doesn’t lack any confidence in what will be the biggest match of her life so far.
“I don’t feel a lot of pressure I’m just excited. I’m ready to get after it,” Grome said earlier this week. “I think we’re prepared, and I think we can do it, so I’m just excited to get out there and show people what we can do.”
The winner of tonight’s game will face the winner of one-seed Stanford (which is hosting the region) and five-seed Houston in the Elite 8. That match is scheduled for a late Saturday night start time at 10:00 p.m. EST.
Check out Ian Alvano’s full preview of tonight’s game here. Now let’s dive into the rest of today’s news and notes, starting with a message from our friends at Jeff Ruby’s.
Holiday Lunch at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse is a highlight of the season in Lexington! Celebrate with a selection of special features including our Spicy Chicken Sandwich or enjoy a Jeff Ruby classic like the Steak Collinsworth. Savor the Holidays! Lunch will be served weekdays 12/8-12/23 from 11am to 2pm. Reservations are available at JeffRuby.com. We hope to see you soon.
Will Levis going pro, skipping Music City Bowl
Will Levis has played his final game in a Kentucky uniform. The Wildcats quarterback announced on Wednesday he will not play in the Music City Bowl vs. Iowa as he prepares for the NFL Draft.
For most of the 2022 season, Levis played through a variety of injuries. He suffered a foot injury at Ole Miss and was able to finish the game, but could not play a week later against South Carolina. He also dealt with a bum shoulder, among other nagging ailments.
Now, after finishing his UK career with an overall record of 17-7, including a 4-0 mark against Florida and Louisville, it’s time for Levis to move on to the next stage in his development. He’s a projected first-round NFL Draft pick and will now have two months to prepare and showcase his talents to league scouts.
Check out KSR’s Rapid Reaction to the news, which actually broke during the middle of 11 Personnel.
Levis spent more than half of his five-year collegiate career at Penn State. He entered the transfer portal in 2021 as a graduate and was recruited by another Northeast guy to Kentucky. He quickly took to Liam Coen’s offense and won over the starting job three weeks into fall camp. In two years as the Wildcats’ starter, Levis completed 418-of-636 passes (65.7%) for 5,232 yards, the sixth-most passing yards in UK history. He threw 43 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions.
Sooner rather than later, we’ll look back on Levis’s time in Lexington as something special. Nick Roush actually put together five games over the last two years that will define his Kentucky career.
[5 Games That Defined Will Levis’ Kentucky Football Career]
WBB picks up first true road win
Up until Wednesday night, Kentucky women’s basketball had played just one truly component opponent all season long. Granted, that opponent was the currently top-10 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in a single-digit loss, but the rest of the competition left fans curious to know where Kyra Elzy’s group is at right now in the early stages of the season.
That changed a bit on Wednesday. Kentucky rolled up to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers in what was the Wildcats’ first true road game of the season. Minnesota is a middle-of-the-pack Power 5 team this year but is filled with youth and had the home crowd behind them. Despite that, Kentucky went in and pulled out a massive 80-74 victory. It wasn’t always comfortable for the ‘Cats, but Elzy’s squad found a way to respond to any sort of Minnesota run, keeping the Gophers just far enough away to prevent a comeback.
Grant Grubbs has a full recap of the win you can check out here.
New running backs coach on the way?
Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops announced Monday he had “a person in mind that I am going to hire” to replace running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator John Settle, who was let go back on Nov. 28.
Fast forward over 48 hours, and the coach that Stoops is targeting for the vacancy has now come to light: Jay Boulware.
KSR’s Matt Jones is reporting that Boulware, who most recently spent time at Texas (2020), Oklahoma (2013-19), and Auburn (2009-12), is expected to be named Kentucky’s new running backs and special teams coach.
Curious as to who the hell Jay Boulware is? So were we, until Adam Luckett did the research and broke it all down for us. [Jay Boulware checks multiple boxes for Kentucky]
Your move, Liam Coen.
Video recap of win over Michigan
To celebrate Kentucky’s 73-69 victory over Michigan from Sunday in London, England, the talented folks over at Kentucky Wildcats TV dropped a recap video on Wednesday night from the team’s international trip. Along with some fancy on-court highlights, the Big Blue Nation was also treated to plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of head coach John Calipari’s pep talks.
The Kentucky-Iowa point total is wild
Prepare for a lot of defense and very few points in this year’s Music City Bowl.
The oddsmakers set a low point total on the matchup between Iowa and Kentucky, and bettors have already pushed the line even lower, from the opening number of 33.5 down to 31 at many books, including DraftKings, BetRivers, UniBet, and Barstool Sportsbook. The over/under sits at 31.5 on most other boards.
As it stands now, the Music City Bowl will make history with the lowest point total college football has ever seen, beating out the Iowa-Northwestern game earlier this season. That Big Ten showdown went under its 31.5 total by a touchdown with 23 combined points in the November 19 game.
If you ask Sports Illustrated though, they’d tell you the Music City is the most “watchable” of any postseason bowl this year… Sure thing.
What’s up with Justin Rogers?
Whether he’s headed to the transfer portal or NFL Draft, Justin Rogers wants us to know that he’s likely not sticking around in Lexington next season. The talented nose tackle sent out a tweet on Wednesday indicating his time as a ‘Cat may be over. Two simple emojis: a man walking and a peace sign.
If you don’t think it means anything, think again…
Jeff Brohm is headed to Louisville
Louisville is bringing Jeff Brohm home, finalizing a six-year deal worth $35 million with the current Purdue football head coach. ESPN’s Chris Low was the first to report the agreement, a move that will bring Brohm back to his alma mater.
Brohm spent six seasons at Purdue, racking up 36 wins and 34 losses in West Lafayette (.514). He previously coached three years at Western Kentucky, finishing his time in Bowling Green with a 30-10 (.750) final record.
The former Cardinal — Brohm played quarterback at Louisville from 1989-93 — is set to replace Scott Satterfield, who left the program to take the head coaching job at Cincinnati on Monday. Satterfield leaves UofL with a 25-24 (15-18) final record and three double-digit losses to archrival Kentucky.
We already miss Scotts Tots.
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