Vicky Graff Photo
Will Levis does not make excuses.
He dislocated the middle finger on his left hand during the second half at Mississippi Saturday but the Kentucky quarterback said that was no reason for his two fumbles in the fourth quarter of the 22-19 loss.
“Just popped the finger back in place. It never affected me. The first fumble was a great defensive play. Second, I held the ball too long,” said Levis.
The first fumble when he ran for a first down included taking what looked like a helmet-to-helmet hit that was not called by the officials and then another player rocked him to knock the ball loose. His second fumble came on a strip sack when he seemed to hold the ball too long — something he also did in the first half that resulted in a safety when he got called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
UK Radio Network analyst Jeff Piecoro says Levis has to have an “internal clock” that lets him know when time is running out to throw the ball.
“He has to also know you can’t take a sack or fumble the football,” Piecoro said.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops admitted Levis at times did hold the ball a little too much.
“You watch tape, and it’ll be easy once you watch the tape to say, ‘Hey, you could have went with the ball here, now, or there.’ But for him there’s a lot of moving pieces, lot going on,” Stoops said.
“He’s playing very good football. If we get our guys set, he throws a dime (touchdown pass to Dane Key) and we win the game, and everybody’s saying ‘Wow, pretty impressive.’ To lead us back on two drives late in the game there.”
Levis completed 18-of-24 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns in the loss — and would have had the go-ahead scoring pass to Key, who made a great catch, if he had let the offense get set before snapping the ball.
Eleven NFL scouts were in the press box — Texans, Bills, Eagles, Jets, Dolphins, Raiders, Saints, Lions, Giants, Seahawks and Falcons — and most probably were there specifically to watch Levis.
He was under constant pressure — again — and got sacked three times. Teams all season have been bringing the heat against UK’s offensive line to pressure Levis but UK offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said he liked seeing teams do that.
Ole Miss paid attention to what Scangarello said based on what Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said on ESPN about his defense.
“They rushed (Levis). They were motivated all week by (Kentucky’s) offensive coordinator saying bring the blitz and we’ll light you up,” Kiffin said.
UK Radio Network’s Tom Leach asked Stoops after the game if Levis might be his own worst enemy by always feeling like he needs to make a special play,
“I have to look at it. I will take that dude all day. I love everything about him. Does he make mistakes? Yeah, but he did what we thought. He put us in position to win the game,” Stoops said.
However, he didn’t finish the task and Kentucky turned what should have been a game it won into a painful loss.
