Will Levis takes blame for poor offensive play

Will Levis said he made too many "detrimental" plays against Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Quarterback Will Levis didn’t mince words after Kentucky lost 44-6 at No. 3 Tennessee Saturday night.

“They were the better team and did a better job executing. Props to them,” Levis said on the UK Radio Network after the deflating loss.

Levis, a projected first-round NFL draft pick, was only 16 of 27 passing for 98 yards with three interceptions in his most lackluster performance at UK since transferring from Penn State before the 2021 season.

He blamed no one but himself for UK’s lack of offense — the Cats had just 205 total yards.

“I kept making plays that were detrimental to us,” Levis said. “I made a drive stopping play to give them the ball back to score again (before halftime). That was really deflating. We all know we can play so much better.”

“I missed some throws. I still could have done a better job. I put it on myself not to end drives the way I did tonight on third down. That has been a great part of our offense and I didn’t get it done. It stinks.”

Levis came into the game converting 82 percent of his third down passes. Against the Vols, UK was 2-for-13 on third down and that gave the Cats no chance to match Tennessee’s fast, efficient offense.

One interception came when he hit freshman Dane Key deep in Tennessee territory. However, Key was rocked as he caught the ball and it popped out into the arms of a Tennessee defender.

“We were moving the ball well. We were having such a good drive and something like that happened. It is just football,” Levis, who made a touchdown-saving tackle on the interception return, said.

Levis said it would be important to watch the game tape and see what he could have changed to put the offense in a better position than he did against the Vols.

“We have got to learn from the tape and we definitely will,” the UK senior quarterback said.

Levis noted that the loss — even by 38 points — did not shake his belief in his team.

“We are definitely a good football team and I think we can definitely beat a team like Tennessee but not the way we played tonight,” Levis said.

I’m not sure this Kentucky team can beat a team as good as Tennessee — or Georgia in three weeks — even if it plays its best. It has seemed to lack focus that has led to mistakes. It has continued to struggle with offensive line play. It has been handicapped by injuries and coach Mark Stoops said after the game he was worried about linebacker DeAndre Square, the team’s leading tackler who left the stadium on crutches after a first-half ankle injury.

“It’s bad to go out there and play the way that I did or the way that we did, but it’s even worse to let that affect you further past tonight,” Levis said. “The point of emphasis to the guys was to keep our heads up.”

Levis was not at UK in 2020 when the Cats lost at Missouri — “We have got to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Levis said. He did lead Kentucky to a win over Missouri last season but knows Saturday’s game at Missouri will be challenging.

“We made that point in the locker room. Square stepped up (after the game) and said he remembered that year going there being lazy and not having enough energy and we had to make sure that was not an excuse for us this year.”