LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky will play its bowl game without star quarterback Will Levis.
Levis, who played through injuries for most of the 2022 season, announced Wednesday he would opt out of the Wildcats’ bowl game in order to focus on returning to 100% in advance of the 2023 NFL draft. Levis is widely projected as a first-round draft pick and one of the top quarterbacks in the draft class.
Kentucky is scheduled to face Iowa in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31 in Nashville, Tenn.
Despite playing just two seasons for Kentucky, Levis ranks fifth in program history in passing touchdowns (43) and total offensive yards (5,502) and sixth in passing yards (5,233). His 3,203 yards of total offense in 2021 were sixth most by a Wildcat in a single season.
Kentucky was 17-7 in games Levis started at quarterback. He was behind center for just the second 10-win season for Kentucky since 1977 in his first season as starter. Levis started two wins against Florida and two wins against Louisville.
Levis announced his departure on Twitter on Wednesday.
“With most decisions in my life, I often think of this motivational quote: ‘Every great move forward in your life begins with a leap of faith, a step into the unknown.’ "
Levis’ statement included thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged him during his time in Lexington.
“As a Wildcat, I have met lifelong friends, learned from incredible coaches, and built connections with valuable mentors that will guide me through my journey. Because of Kentucky, I found belief and confidence in myself that had not been reached beforehand, and, most importantly, we won some incredibly memorable ball games in my college career. It has been a great move forward.”
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said after the Wildcats’ regular-season finale against Louisville that Levis is deserving of everything coming his way.
“Hard to put into words what he’s meant to us,” Stoops said. “His toughness, leadership, battling through adversity. Coming here and having a great year and going through an offensive coordinator change and getting beat up and having a year where he wasn’t at 100 percent, he fought through it.
“He’s a true professional. He set the tone for us here. We absolutely love him, whether it’s his last game or plays one more. I think the world of him, and love what he’s done for us and don’t want anything but the best for him and his future.”
Barring any additional roster movement, Kentucky (7-5) enters the Music City Bowl with three quarterbacks on its roster — redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron, true freshman Destin Wade and sophomore Deuce Hogan, who transferred from Iowa after last season.
Sheron was the only Kentucky quarterback other than Levis to take a snap this season. When Levis missed the South Carolina game because of injury, Sheron started in his place and completed 15 of 27 throws for 178 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Sheron was sacked six times in a 24-14 defeat at Kroger Field.
Statistically, Levis’ senior season was something of a disappointment.
He entered the season hyped as a likely first-round pick in the draft and possible dark horse Heisman Trophy contender but was hampered by injuries.
In the Oct. 1 loss at Ole Miss, Levis suffered turf toe that would force him to miss Kentucky’s next game, a loss to South Carolina, and would hamper his mobility for the rest of the season. He also dislocated the middle finger on his non-throwing hand at Ole Miss and injured his non-throwing shoulder in the win over Mississippi State.
“He’s 10 out of 10 in toughness,” UK offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said after UK’s Governor’s Cup rivalry win over Louisville. “I don’t think people realize how injured he was this year. He played for five or six weeks where literally he would sprint out in practice and fall down. Like, his toe would give out on him. Bad habits can come from that with not transitioning your weight and your shoulder.”
Levis’ completion percentage dropped from 66% as a junior to 65.4% as a senior, but he did post slight improvements in passing yards per game (216.3 to 218.7) and quarterback rating (147.99 to 151.88).
The biggest difference in Levis’ two seasons at Kentucky came in his rushing numbers.
As a junior, Levis ran for 376 yards and nine touchdowns. As a senior, thanks in large part to being sacked 36 times, he actually lost 107 rushing yards in 11 games with just two rushing touchdowns.
Scangarello, who replaced Liam Coen as UK’s offensive coordinator before the 2022 season and was fired after the regular season finale, made it clear before the season started he wanted to limit the number of hits Levis took on designed quarterback runs and scrambles, but Scangarello, Stoops and Levis later said he would have run more if not for the turf toe.
“The stuff that I’m dealing with is definitely not easy, but if anything I think it prepared me for not hopefully but what probably will happen at some point in my career in the future with similar injuries and more kind of annoying kind of nuisances,” Levis said. “I just kind of kept battling and trusting the coaching staff to put me in the right position to succeed. It’s tough calling plays when you have a different kind of physical nature with the quarterback than what you were expecting, but I think Coach did a great job working around it.”
After the Louisville win, Levis admitted he would always look back on his senior season at Kentucky with a sense of regret because he and the team did not reach their preseason goals, but he likely has already secured his spot as a fan favorite for decades to come.
When Levis transferred to Kentucky in 2021 he was looking to prove himself after he felt he was unfairly pigeonholed as a run-first backup quarterback at Penn State. Working with Coen, he proved his arm talent was elite and made strides to develop himself as a top draft prospect.
Levis’ individual development coincided with one of Kentucky’s most successful seasons in his first year as a starter. His quickly endeared himself to fans with a physical mindset that saw him frequently lower a shoulder to plow through a defender or leap over a would-be tackler. Levis also took full advantage of new rules allowing players to profit off their name, image and likeness by crafting a social media persona that gained him national attention before he even started a game for the Wildcats.
“In this time of Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about the things I’m thankful for, and one of the first things I think about is just this community here, the people here,” Levis said before the Louisville game. “The coaching staff for believing in me here. The team for rallying around me and trusting in me to be their guy, be their leader. The community for just welcoming me with open arms. Could have gone very differently when you enter that transfer portal. If it weren’t for Kentucky, who knows where I’d be, who knows what the future looks like for me.”
