KSR Monday Huddle: Will Levis is QB1

There are now less than three weeks remaining until Kentucky football makes its return on Sept. 4 when Terry Bowden brings his first ULM team to Kroger Field. As camp rolls along, some individuals are making big waves, and news is being made.

After Kentucky’s first full week of fall training camp, a starter behind center was named while others attempt to make a name for themselves. KSR’s Monday Huddle is here to get you up to speed on Kentucky football.

First Down: Will Levis gets the keys

The starting QB announcement occurred much earlier than most of us expected. On Sunday evening, head coach Mark Stoops met with the media to name Will Levis the starting quarterback.

The Penn State transfer is a fourth-year junior out of Connecticut with a Finance degree from Penn State. At 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds, Levis was a very effective rusher for the Nittany Lions under offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne before new offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca gave the former three-star recruit a chance to start a game and get real QB reps in 2022. Levis responded by averaging 7.65 yards per attempt and posting a 49.09 percent success rate. These were solid numbers in a small sample size.

Once Will Levis was added to the roster soon after Liam Coen was named offensive coordinator, this was always the most likely move. When neither Beau Allen nor Joey Gatewood made a huge push during the spring, it started to feel inevitable. After glowing comments from Vince Marrow last week, this race turned into a tap-in putt for the newest QB in the position room.

However, there are always ripple effects with this position. Joey Gatewood has entered the transfer portal, and Kentucky has just one QB on the roster who has played in an SEC game. However, that is just how the QB game is played in modern college football. The Wildcats are now all-in on Levis after making a decision quickly in fall camp. That it happened this fast may be a good thing after the new quarterback completed 74 percent of his passes to this point in camp and threw a 65-yard bomb for a touchdown in Saturday’s scrimmage. This was the best move.

“We simply made the best decision for our football team to win games,” said Stoops. “We all know how important that is.”

Second Down: Izayah Cummings, Izayah Cummings, Izayah Cummings

Just prior to camp beginning, KSR’s Nick Roush reported that the Louisville (Ky.) Male High product would be switching positions and trying out tight end in 2021. Quickly, many of us rejoiced. For quite some time, we have talked about the potential Cummings has at the position providing a flex tight end element that could be very valuable for the offense.

So far, so good.

This past week, offensive coordinator Liam Coen and tight ends coach Vince Marrow bragged about the 6-foot-3 hybrid tight end. Head coach Mark Stoops followed that up on Saturday with more praise. There was even a Kyle Pitts comparison thrown in by one of his teammates. This hype train is not slowing down anytime soon.

“Love it,” said Coen on Tuesday when asked about Cummings at tight end. “Kid’s just coming along, he’s such a good kid. Just finding a role for guys. Same thing really what we’re trying to get accomplished with some of the backs. We’re just trying to find more roles for people to be able to contribute on the offensive side of the ball because the more guys that are involved, the more buy-in, the more sell for these kids to be bought into what we’re trying to get accomplished and all hands on deck.”

Using creativity when building out personnel groupings is something we’ve seen early from the new offensive regime in Lexington. Having players with some “positionless” skill sets such as Cummings and JuTahn McClain will allow Kentucky a better shot at success in the passing game due to the coaching staff’s willingness to get the best players on the field.

Third Down: Dekel Crowdus avoids major injury, can help the Kentucky offense

Crowdus was a four-star wide receiver out of Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass High who made a quick pitstop at IMG Academy (Fla.) during his high school career. Despite an impressive prep journey, the 5-foot-10 true freshman was the least talked about blue-chip commit in the class of 2021. That changed once he began practice at Kentucky.

.@CrowdusDekel ran a post 🙌#ForTheTeam 😼🏈 pic.twitter.com/HPa0q3RlBl

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) August 10, 2021

Despite the hot start, Crowdus suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for a few weeks. However, there was no ligament tear. This is a true freshman that could see some playing time this season. Keep this name in mind as the season progresses.

“It’s really good that Dekel has an opportunity to come back because he really is doing some good things,” said Stoops. “He has the speed you’re looking for. Hopefully, we’ll get him back in a couple weeks.”

“You saw the kid out there and knew he was explosive, can make a lot of plays. That speed that he has is something you just can’t teach,” said Wan’Dale Robinson.

The week ahead at KSR

We won’t have to wait long to see the new QB1 in action. On Tuesday, Kentucky is opening its doors to media, and KSR will be there to give reports on the second open practice of the season. Will Levis will now be running with the ones, and we’ll see if the legend of Izayah Cummings is for real. Meanwhile, there will be much more to get caught up to speed with.

KSR’s position preview series will roll on this week as the focus shifts over to the defensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, a fresh episode of 11 Personnel will be headed your way after the practice on Tuesday. Make sure you go back and check out last week’s episode where season win total picks were given out.

Football is coming, and KSR’s Monday Huddle will be here to keep you up to speed.