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The first week of the college football season has come and gone as the Kentucky Wildcats rolled to a 45-10 victory.
In the win, Kentucky unleashed a new offense under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen that saw the Cats’ passing game hit another level.
New quarterback Will Levis completed 18 of his 26 passes for 367 yards and four touchdowns. Pro Football Focus graded his performance out as the third-best QB in a Power 5 league.
The one thing we didn’t see from Levis on Saturday is his ability to get out of the pocket and make plays with his legs like we saw during his limited playing time at Penn State.
However, what Levis did on Saturday was enough for Fox Sports analyst Tim Brando to see comparisons to another quarterback that was a former Big Ten backup who transferred to become an SEC superstar.
Brando believes that Levis has the chance to have a Joe Burrow effect on Kentucky’s program.
Love this kid! Saw him as a backup to Clifford @PennStateFball he has a chance to dare I say have a Burrow affect on @UKFootball an incredibly gifted athlete that’s only needed reps to get better. I’ve got the Wildcats finishing 2nd in the @SEC East. https://t.co/4Kevn4LdqJ
— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) September 6, 2021
Obviously, Brando isn’t saying that Levis is going to have a season like we saw from Burrow in 2019 when he threw for 5,671-yards and 60 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions. However, Burrow did take an LSU program that had been on the verge of title contention and won them a national championship, then became the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick to the Cincinnati Bengals.
With Levis, he has some excellent offensive weapons of his own that will give this team an excellent shot at a memorable season.
The Wildcats have had a lot of success under Mark Stoops, but they’ve been unable to win the SEC East under his watch. Perhaps Levis can help elevate this program to a level that helps it finally breakthrough to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.
The Cats will be in action again on Saturday night when they take on the Missouri Tigers in Kroger Field. That game will start at 7:30 pm ET and will air on the SEC Network.
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