Will Levis has earned the full trust of Kentucky's coaching staff
Through four games for Kentucky football (4-0) this season, QB Will Levis has arguably been the most consistent of the Wildcats
The future top NFL Draft pick has been slinging the ball all over the field for the freshly ranked No. 7 team in the country. Levis has recorded three games of 300-plus passing yards against Kentucky’s non-conference opponents (including 377 against Youngstown State in Week 3) while tossing for 202 more in the monster win over Florida in Week 2. The redshirt senior has totaled 1,185 yards through the air with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Levis’s 67.5 completion percentage is right up there with the likes of Alabama’s Bryce Young (also 67.5 percent) and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud (70.5 percent).
Even in the face of offensive line and pass-blocking issues, Levis has consistently come through for Kentucky. Head coach Mark Stoops finally has a high-powered offense in Lexington that can win games solely through superior playmaking talent, but he has to be able to trust those guys, too.
With that in mind, Stoops is putting all of his trust on the broad shoulders of Levis this season. There wasn’t a better example of that than during the first quarter of Saturday’s 31-23 win over Northern Illinois.
Kentucky went down into an early 7-0 hole after NIU rattled off an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive. Once UK finally had the ball in its possession, a three-and-out appeared to be looming. Kentucky was staring at a 4th-and-1 at its own 34-yard line, but instead of opting for a punt, Stoops elected to leave his trustworthy QB in the game. A failure to complete the first down would have gifted the Huskies incredible field position and all of the game’s momentum.
But Levis did what’s done time and time again: use his massive frame to power through the trenches for just enough yards. Kentucky earned the first down and Levis led his team down the field for a 16-play, 75-yard scoring drive to knot the score at 7-7. Who knows what the final score looks like if UK either punted or didn’t gain the first down.
“I loved it, especially down 7-0 after that long drive that they just had, it would have been tough for us to turn around and punt it on our own 36 like that, or wherever it was,” Levis said postgame about the decision to go for it on fourth down. “It was a close one, but luckily we were able to get it. I did not think we were gonna go for it, but it was cool to have coach trust in us and to have us do that. That’s something we’ve worked on a lot this week in that situation.”
It’s not often that a game-shifting play — whether you want to call it ballsy or irresponsible is up to you — happens midway through the first quarter, but when you have a quarterback of Levis’s caliber, Stoops can afford to make those calls. He has complete trust that his star will make a play.
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