Mark Stoops confirms Will Levis is Kentucky's Starting Quarterback

by:Nick Roush•08/15/21•

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It’s Official: Will Levis is Kentucky’s QB1.

Shortly after Kentucky Sports Radio reported that Levis won the preseason quarterback competition, Mark Stoops called a press conference to confirm that the former Penn State transfer will be the first to take snaps under center when the Wildcats host Louisiana Monroe Sept. 4.

Kentucky’s head coach announced that Levis won the quarterback competition over Joey Gatewood and Beau Allen after just a little more than a week of practice and one live scrimmage. It’s the earliest Stoops has called a quarterback competition since he became the Wildcats’ head coach in 2013.

“It’s not a personal decision,” Stoops said. “They’re all three are great young men that have done everything we asked them to do. We simply made the best decision for our football team to win games.”

Recruited from the transfer portal by offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Levis will be handed the keys to the new offense with just two career starts in three seasons at Penn State. He appeared in 15 career games, completed 61-of-102 passes (59.8%) for 644 yards and three scores, with just two interceptions. Penn State’s rushing option at quarterback, he gained 473 yards on 133 carries and scored six touchdowns on the ground.

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Those stats do not accurately illustrate Levis’ efficiency as a passer. Last season Levis had a success rate of 49.09%. When you compare that advanced stat to other household names around college football, in a small sample size Levis was more efficient than Miami’s D’Eriq King, Georgia’s JT Daniels, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel and USC’s Kedon Slovis.

Now that the offense is in Levis’ hands, the pressure is on to turn around Kentucky’s grounded aerial attack. Over the last two seasons Kentucky finished dead last among Power Five teams in passing offense. A Kentucky quarterback has not thrown for 20 touchdowns or more since Mike Hartline in 2010. For Stoops to reach new heights in Lexington, Levis needs to be the solution to Kentucky’s quarterback problem.