Will Levis is expected to start vs. Mississippi State

QB1 is back.

After a good week of practice with no setbacks for Will Levis, the senior quarterback is expected to return vs. Mississippi State on Saturday.

Mark Stoops announced Levis’ anticipated return after practice Thursday.

“Yeah, no setbacks,” he said.

The head coach’s announcement comes after a week of positive updates regarding Kentucky’s starter. Levis returned to practice Monday, a “great sign” regarding his status going into the Mississippi State game, Stoops said to open the week.

Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello added that Levis was “trending the way we’d hope he’d trend” on Tuesday.

And then Wednesday, Stoops made it clear that Levis was expected to play “barring any setbacks.”

“Right now it seems like he’ll be healthy, barring any setbacks. Obviously that brings a lot of energy to our team. … I feel like barring any setbacks, he should be good to go,” Stoops said during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference. “He’s been out there Monday, Tuesday and we practice (Wednesday) afternoon; expecting him to be out there (Wednesday). We hope he’s at or near full strength.”

Fast forward to Thursday, and no setbacks to report.

With Levis out vs. South Carolina this past weekend, Kentucky fell in disappointing fashion, losing 24-14 at home. Redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron was forced to start in Levis’ absence, finishing with 178 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 15/27 passing.

This time around, Stoops says Levis is ready to roll against the Bulldogs.

Certainly huge news.