Kentucky football: Where there’s a Will, Kentucky finds a way in win at Missouri

Kentucky’s 21-17 road victory over Missouri on Saturday was not a thing of beauty.

The Wildcats were held to 242 yards of offense, had a dozen penalties and allowed 11 tackles for loss, including 6 sacks of Will Levis. The key play of the game was a UK snap well over punter Colin Goodfellow’s head.

But Kentucky (6-3, 3-3 SEC) also secured its 7th straight bowl trip and kept alive hopes for 8 or 9 wins in a 2022 season where not much has gone according to plan. And a game after he struggled mightily against Tennessee, Levis bounced back with an effort to remember … and following his lead, Kentucky found a way to win.

A week earlier, Tennessee hassled and harassed Levis from the 1st snap. He threw 3 interceptions, although it’s open to debate whether any or all were actually his fault or he was hung out to dry by a subpar effort from his receivers. He’s playing on basically 1 leg, with a banged-up hand, a banged-up shoulder and with a good chunk of college football fandom acting as if the projection of Levis as a likely NFL first-round draft pick is some sort of personal affront to their mothers.

But with Kentucky playing a game it couldn’t afford to lose, Levis hung in the pocket and made enough big plays to save the day. From a 39-yard dart to Barion Brown on Kentucky’s 1st scoring drive to a 22-yard strike to Dane Key for the touchdown that gave the Wildcats a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, Levis made plays. Two of his 3 touchdown throws were on 3rd down, which mattered even more in a game where Kentucky was 0-for-2 on field-goal attempts and — as noted — snapped the ball well over the punter’s head in the closing minutes.

What Levis’ haters will never understand is that it isn’t about the numbers — although 13-for-19 passing for 170 yards and 3 touchdowns isn’t a bad day of work. It’s about leadership. It’s about getting hit again and again and again, and coming back to throw 1 more crucial pass. It’s also about 11 of Levis’ 12 completions going to freshmen receivers. It’s about an offensive line that’s a patchwork combination of not-yets, never-has-beens, and never-will-bes, and which has allowed the most sacks in the SEC.

Turn on a TV on Sunday and chances are you’ll find an NFL team or 10 that is having to deal with life as it is, not as it should be. Sometimes, the road graders up front are more like the highway than the steamrollers. Sometimes, the young receivers are being inexperienced and uncertain. The types of issues that Levis has faced at Kentucky are the types of issues he’ll probably see at some point in the NFL.

And if most college football fans don’t understand why Hendon Hooker or Bryce Young might not be well-prepared for dealing with those situations, at least they can understand why Levis is prepared.

Levis came to Kentucky as something of the missing piece. The Wildcats had a tenacious defense, a tough offensive line and an impressive ground game. They just needed a quarterback. He’s stuck with the Wildcats as only the defense and occasionally shades of the ground game have remained. When Mark Stoops talks about how he wouldn’t trade Levis for another player, it’s not hyperbole.

With Kentucky definitely out of the SEC race after the Tennessee loss, Levis could opt out. He could decide his bad wheel and assorted minor injuries necessitate sitting out a few games. Or the rest of the games. Instead, he’s in the pocket, hopping around, taking punishment, dealing out touchdown throws and winning games in hair-raising fashion.

Where there’s a Will, Kentucky has found a way. As it did in Columbia.

Joe Cox

Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.