Will Levis Has Memorable Winning NFL Debut

Tennessee Titans Photo

For those who doubted Will Levis, he answered a lot of questions Sunday.

In his NFL debut for the Tennessee Titans, the former UK quarterback became the first Kentucky player to have at least four touchdown passes in a NFL regular season game since George Blanda in 1968 in a 28-23 victory over Atlanta.

“This is a dream come true for sure,” Levis said after the game. I’ve been dreaming of this moment as a kid my entire life, even just to touch the field in an NFL game.”

He completed 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of 130.5. Levis threw three touchdown passes of 61, 16 and 47 yards to DeAndre Hopkins.

“He’s a very talented quarterback, confident,” Hopkins said. “He plays the game like he’s been here. (Offensive coordinator) Tim Kelly and those guys did a great job getting him prepared today.”

Levis threw the game winning score to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

“It’s incredible,” Levis told CBS sideline reporter Amanda Guerra following the win. “Shoutout to the fans for coming out and supporting. Just shoutout to this team for embracing me and getting me through these past couple of weeks. I’m just excited to be a part of this team and do whatever I can to help them win.”

Remember Levis thought he was going to be a high first-round pick in the 2023 draft. Instead, he fell to the Titans with the second pick of the second round.

“Like I’ve been saying: This is the game I love, and there’s nothing better than winning a football game,” Levis said.

He’s only the third player to record four touchdowns in his NFL debut — the other two were Fran Tarkenton and Marcus Mariota — and helped the Titans score the most points in a game they had in two years.

“He was ballin’, huh?,” Titans running back Derrick Henry said of Levis. “He was playing out of his mind. It was good to see because he works so hard. I could tell he was locked in, and we were excited to see it come together for him and the offense.”

After the game, Levis went immediately to the stands to celebrate with family members at the game. Many of them were also with him at the NFL draft when he did not get picked in the first round and had TV cameras monitoring his every move. However, all eyes were on Levis Sunday and he certainly showed why he belongs in the NFL.