Mississippi State vs Kentucky: Three Things to Know About Wildcats QB Will Levis
Mississippi State has faced and will face some talented quarterbacks this season, and the next signal-caller the Bulldogs face is one of the most interesting in all of college football.
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, a transfer out of Penn State, is known both for the strides he's made on the field as well as a taste for certain food combinations that some of us might call "bananas."
More on that to follow.
Here are three things to know about Levis as the Bulldogs prepare to take on Kentucky on Saturday evening:
1. Mississippi State has seen this before -- on its own practice field.
Before coming joining the Wildcats to play a more traditional quarterback role than we've seen him maintain at the college level, Levis played the role of the "Lion" at Penn State. This is a unique position that requires a lot of versatility and the ability to be everywhere -- throwing, running, catching passes -- you name it.
Does that ring a bell? It should if you've kept up with MSU throughout recent history, because former Bulldogs quarterback Tommy Stevens also transferred from Penn State, where he formerly played the same Taysom Hill type of role as a Nittany Lion.
2. His eating habits are... odd.
Have you ever heard of someone who puts mayonnaise in their coffee and is more than happy to eat a banana whole, peel on and everything? If you haven't then Will Levis is your guy.
To each their own, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone else who would eat a banana that ripe, much less whole, and likes the tang (?) that mayonnaise brings to a cup of coffee.
Truly a unique palette Levis has.
3. He seems to be on the up in Liam Coen's offense.
Things weren't perfect for Levis at Penn State -- no quarterback transfers without reason, after all. Levis completed 28-of-47 passes for 223 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, also carrying the ball 51 times for 213 yards with three touchdowns.
In 2020, he completed 33-of-55 passes for 421 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions, rushing 82 times for 260 yards with three touchdowns on the ground. In his first season at UK, Levis has drawn plenty of praise from his coaches for both his arm talent and his intangibles and he's garnered attention at several different points in the season.
“Even halfway through the third quarter, I thought for sure I was going to be able to get some experience, which was much needed for me in this time of my career,” Levis told the Centre Daily Times of his decision to transfer, which he seemed to ultimately come to when he was sitting on the bench in a Week 3 game against Maryland while at Penn State. “That didn’t come. And that was something that frustrated me.”
Seven games in, Levis has completed 119-of-177 passes for 1,326 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions, also carrying the ball 50 times for 175 yards with three touchdowns.
