Kentucky Football: Uninspired, lethargic Wildcats fend of Chattanooga

Levis rides a roller-coaster day producing highlights and lowlights

Will Levis leaves everything on the field and hates to lose at anything. However, when the competitive juices start flowing like Niagra Falls it sends him into a mode of trying to do too much to survive.

He engineered a perfect opening drive marching 75-yards in nine plays before handing off to Josh Ali for his first-ever rushing touchdown on an end-around. Levis was 4 for 5 on the drive.

But when he went long the touch wasn’t there overthrowing on three straight bombs that should have given UK the big lead.  It wasn’t until Wan’Dale Robinson pulled in a 39 yarder in the second quarter with 13:35 left and then Levis followed with a 20-yard wheel route to Isaiah Epps giving UK a 14-7 lead.

After that, it was a pair of picks, with one accounting for a Mocs score when Levis tried to force a pass nearly standing on the goal line. The second was an underthrown ball that Chattanooga picked off just fingertips off the ground.

Very aggravating for Stoops, and Levis admittedly was particularly hard on himself too.

"“I just say personally, I made some throws that usually I wouldn’t. That first interception was one of the worst interceptions I’ve ever thrown. I don’t know what I was thinking really, and it’s just frustrating looking back, well I haven’t done that all year and then all of a sudden, I get in that situation. It’s a big spot, even though it’s third and long, even just scrambling taking a few yards punting is much better than forcing the ball there, and that’s just learning moments"

He fumbled with Kentucky going for it on fourth down. It wouldn’t have mattered though as the near sack would have turned it over on downs anyway.

But there were highs to offset that. Levis was 23 of 35 for 254 yards. He also carried it 3 times for 26 yards, including a 21-yard scamper to keep the drive alive on third down.

He did find his favorite target in Wan’Dale Robinson for some deep balls. He did pull down 8 passes for 111 yards with a long of 39 yards.

Better decision-making is a must for the leader out there.