Despite impressive numbers, Will Levis says offense not good enough

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Will Levis threw for 377 yards and two scores Saturday but knows he can do better. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Expectations for Kentucky quarterback Will Levis are so high that he can go 27-for-35 passing for 377 yards and two scores in a 31-0 win over Youngstown State and it didn’t seem like anything extra special.

Try to think of how often a Kentucky quarterback has thrown for nearly 400 yards and yet it seemed like he just was not at his best.

“I think offensively that Will did some really good things. There’s a few plays here and there that he wishes he could have over. Maybe not his best,” said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops.

“We’ve got to play better around him. And it starts with being physical, creating — you know, moving the line of scrimmage and running the ball downhill.”

Protection has been a problem. He was sacked four times Saturday and has now been sacked 11 times this season. Kentucky also rushed for only 114 yards without factoring in the loss yardage created by Levis’ sacks.

“We have to do a better job protecting him,” Stoops said.

Levis is 61 of 91 passing — a 67 percent completion rate — for 882 yards and six touchdowns with four interceptions this season. Yet he’s far from satisfied despite his numbers and UK’s 3-0 start.

“We know where we can get better and we’re showing flashes again. This just was not good enough, especially how the defense played. They’re getting the ball back for us repeatedly and we are just not finishing drives,” Levis said Saturday.

“Again, just the good things we did, we should have been doing a lot more. Mostly disappointed just because of the guys that got in there for that last drive. I mean, you don’t want to think or assume guys should be able to get it every game, but we need to work harder to make sure we get the ball when opportunities arise like that.”

One of Levis’ goals this year was to cut down on interceptions. Obviously throwing two against Youngstown State upset him.
 
He believes the offense is “growing” but still has a lot to clean up. He’s confident the offensive line is going to continue to progress and improve (starting guard Tashawn Manning did not play because of an injury).

“I think we found a good group of guys that we’re able to trust and do good things for us. But still in targeting areas, miscommunications are things we know we can get better with. We just have to keep leaning on and trusting each other,” Levis said.

“The run game has to get better, we know that. It starts with them, but it’s everybody, not just them. We have to make sure that if we want to be a good offense that we can make that more of our identity. We did a little bit better in the second half this week.”

4 Responses

  1. I agree with Larry P. The O-Line is problematic. I have been hopeful that UK’s vanishing running attack would reappear when Rodriguez gets back, but I am concerned that the O-Line issues are real and deep, and if this O-Line cannot protect Levis, and cannot open holes for Smoke and Wright to run through, Rodriguez alone will not be the answer.

    UK’s defense is the real deal, probably one of the top 5 defenses in the country, but the offense has been nothing spectacular through 3 games. Interceptions have cost the offense points, and on Saturday, the team put the ball on the ground way too many times and were fortunate to only lose it once.

    The offense is nowhere close to what I think most people expected going into the season. Time is running out on fixing this problem because in 2 weeks, this team must travel to Ole Miss and the Rebels are playing as well as anyone in the country except perhaps Georgia.

    If this team wants a special season like everyone has been talking about, this offense must get better in a hurry.

    1. Right Professor. So far defense better than anticipated, offense not quite as good. If offense gets rolling, then could be really fun season

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