Sep. 5—LEXINGTON
It was a rocky beginning, but once Will Levis settled in, he was hard to stop.
The University of Kentucky junior quarterback, in his first start for the Wildcats, opened the day with an interception that Louisiana Monroe promptly turned into seven points.
Once that was out of the way, Levis was phenomenal.
The 6-foot-3, 232-pound slinger completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 367 yards and four touchdowns as the Cats kicked off the season with a 45-10 win against Louisiana Monroe at Kroger Field.
The Cats’ new-look offense, under first-year coordinator Liam Coen, was a perfect balance of complementary football. The running game opened up the passing attack, which thrived on play-action passes all afternoon. For the first time in a long time, UK’s offense was truly dynamic.
ULM never quite figured it out, either.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Levis said afterward. “I knew we could do it and I knew that if we got the look and executed correctly on those looks, we could do it. Coach Coen put up some great calls for the defense that we were seeing, and we were able to find some openings in the defense that we could take advantage of.”
Levis directed the Cats to a 28-7 halftime advantage behind 246 yards and three TDs in the first half — a performance that put many of the Cats’ past offensive showings to shame. UK threw for just 121.5 yards per game last season.
Enter the Penn State transfer, who accumulated the most passing yards by a Wildcat in their debut, as well as the most yardage by a UK quarterback overall since 2014.
Josh Ali reeled in five passes for a career-high 136 yards and one touchdown. Wan’Dale Robinson grabbed five passes for 125 yards and two scores. It was the first game in which two UK receivers surpassed the century mark in a decade.
“We were ready,” Robinson said. “We wanted to make some things happen. We knew that Will was going to get the ball to us, so we just had to make plays. That’s what we went out there and did.”
The aerial attack also helped UK establish its ultra-efficient running game, with Chris Rodriguez Jr. rolling for 125 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
“That has to be a staple,” Cats head coach Mark Stoops said. “One doesn’t work without the other. You have to have the balance and the physicality.”
Levis, who had TD tosses of 33, 58, 15 and 4 yards, finished with three completions that went for more than 50 yards each. Last year, the Cats didn’t have a single pass go for more than 40 yards.
More important than the sheer arm strength — we knew Levis could throw the ball — was the poise he showed in the pocket. When big plays were there, he made the throws. When they weren’t, he went through his progressions and often found an open man or used his mobility to pick up yardage.
Frankly, Levis appears to be the quarterback UK’s been searching for. Stoops didn’t press his luck, either, opting to sub out Levis once the Cats went ahead 38-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Of course, it’s important to keep these things in perspective. After all, the Cats weren’t playing Georgia or Alabama.
They played ULM, a team they were favored to beat by more than 30 points and a squad that hadn’t led in any ball game since 2019.
The schedule only gets harder from here on out, and not every game will be as rosy as Saturday’s outing, but it’s a good start.
With Coen and Levis directing the show, the Cats’ potential is through the roof.