LEXINGTON, Ky. — The preseason lists are out, the ones that try and project which college football player has the best chance of winning the best individual award in all of college football, i.e. the Heisman Trophy.
Here’s something you might not have expected this time a season ago: Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is on those lists.
Not that it means anything to Levis, mind you. Or so he says. Actually, he says so rather emphatically and positively dismissively.
“I don’t care,” Levis said recently. “It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t look at that stuff. None of that has ever mattered, so why should I care about it.”
Kentucky football fans might care. No Wildcat has ever won the Heisman Trophy. Through the years, UK has had players finish in the top four in Heisman voting four times — Babe Parilli finished fourth in 1950 and third in 1951; Lou Michaels was fourth in 1957 and Tim Couch finished fourth in 1998.
So what would Levis have to do to win the Heisman?
“Beat Georgia while eating a banana skin on during the game,” replied Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde.
The joke about Levis’s peculiar eating habits aside, the point is a popular one. First and foremost, to have a shot at grasping the Heisman Trophy you have to win games. Especially big games. Recent history bears that out.
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman last year while leading the Crimson Tide to the national championship game. Bama wide-out DeVonta Smith won the 2020 Heisman as Nick Saban won his sixth national title in Tuscaloosa. Quarterback Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman while leading LSU to the national title.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is in the same conference with this year’s AP preseason No. 1 team in Alabama, and in the same division with the defending national champions in Georgia.
“I think Levis’s path to a Heisman is narrow because it just doesn’t seem likely that he’ll put up really gaudy numbers with the way Kentucky prefers to play offense,” AP college football writer Ralph Russo said. “Obviously, he needs to play very well, that’s a given.”
He must play especially well in Kentucky’s biggest games.
“So how does he make up the ground on the likes of (C.J.) Stroud and (Bryce) Young, who are likely to have flashier stats?” Russo said. “Lead Kentucky to new heights. Beat Georgia and win the SEC East. Even with that, it might be tough for him to win the Heisman without getting into the College Football Playoff. But that should put him firmly in the mix to be a finalist.”
“In reality: Winning the SEC East or at least being in contention for it late in the season, while also putting up big numbers,” Forde said. “Needs some big games against high-profile opponents. His highest-rated games last year were vs. ULM, New Mexico State and an LSU team in disarray. He’s gotta pop like he did against Louisville vs. some of the better SEC opponents.”
OK, so if Levis is facing long odds to actually carry home that little bronze trophy, how does he put himself in position to make the trip to New York as a finalist?
“The first thing Will needs to do is have a big game at Florida on Sept. 10,” longtime college football writer Tony Barnhart said. “Kentucky needs to win the game and Will needs to put up good numbers. Then Kentucky needs to be 7-0 hosting Tennessee on Oct. 29. Then, as every Heisman hopeful should do, he needs to do something dramatic in November. Beating Georgia in Lexington would certainly qualify. So a player like Will needs to grab the voters’ attention in September, hold it in October, and beat somebody in November you’re not supposed to beat.”
“As I always say in August, you and I are Heisman candidates,” CBS Sports columnist Dennis Dodd said. “But I think for Will, certainly a win at Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee would help. A 10-2 season gets him in the conversation. If Kentucky were to finish second in the East as well, that would help, too.”
Ah, more victories.
“I don’t think the country at large knows enough about (Levis), which is too bad,” Dodd said. “Even with all that, he would have to overcome Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. to get invited. Remember, Anderson became the first Power Five player in at least 13 years to lead the country in sacks and TFLs and didn’t get invited.
“I think Kentucky would have to win 10 at least, go to a New Year’s bowl and beat those three teams I mentioned for Will to get invited. That’s in a vacuum not considering what anyone else would do.”
OK, if win total is No. 1 on the requirement list, gaudy numbers are not far behind. Young threw for 47 touchdowns, compared to seven interceptions last season. Burrow tossed a totally ridiculous 60 TD passes, compared to six interceptions, in 2019. Kyler Murray, the 2018 Heisman winner, had a 42/7 touchdown/interception split. Baker Mayfield, the 2017 winner, went 43/6.
Levis threw for 24 touchdown passes last season, his first as a full-time starter, compared to 13 interceptions. He threw for 2,826 yards and completed 66% of his passes. He certainly has the traits to improve those numbers.
“The NFL concepts were very apparent when I watched the tape,” NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell said this summer on “The Install” podcast. “He understands conceptually what he’s going to be asked to do at the NFL level. And you’re dealing with a kid who is 6-foot-3, 235. He’s rocked-up. He’s solid. He’s got a really tight, compact delivery. He generates very easy velocity. He does not work hard at all to drive the football. It just comes out of his hand naturally.”
One Levis goal: He wants to improve his completion percentage to above 70%.
“It’s decision-making,” Levis said during UK’s fall camp. “I haven’t changed anything mechanically. I think it’s more consistency. I have the ability to make every throw on the field and I know that. Missed throws are going to happen. It’s just a matter of knowing why they happened and not reverting back to the same mistake the next time I get in a situation like that.”
Is Levis a long shot for the Heisman? Yes, he is. The online site Sportsbetting lists Levis’ odds at 50-1. DraftKings’ moneyline on Levis and the Heisman is +5000. Still, he’s on the list. And Levis is more than capable of climbing that list.
“Considering Lamar Jackson is the only player who played in the Kentuckiana area to win the Heisman, that is a provocative question,” said Rick Bozich of WDRB in Louisville. “That tells me it requires a special sauce: Win at a high level, high enough to keep Kentucky in contention in the SEC East for most of the season. Deliver a signature moment — an upset of a ranked team or a game-winning drive in the final minute or two. And put up numbers that put him among the top quarterbacks in the country.
“There are only three lines on the Heisman ballot, not five or 10. So it’s tough to make the cut. But I’ve voted for guys from this area before — Jackson, Tim Couch, Anthony Thompson. Levis could definitely earn my vote.”
