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When Will Levis decided to move from Penn State to Kentucky last offseason, no one could have imagined it would impact the pursuit of the 2021 national championship.
Levis was primarily a substitute quarterback for the Nittany Lions with just three touchdown passes in two seasons. Sean Clifford had established himself as the clear starter at Penn State, despite performing from the top down. Probably only die-hard fans of either program noticed the deal.
Still, there was Levis on Saturday, throwing three touchdowns to lead Kentucky’s 42-21 blowout against LSU. That extended a magical 6-0 start to the season for the 11th-seeded Wildcats before a mega game with No.1 Georgia this week. His solid, if at times spectacular, play was the key to the successful program.
Meanwhile, so-No. 4 Penn State lost to Iowa’s No.3 23-20 on Saturday after Clifford was knocked out of the game. He was replaced by substitute Ta’Quan Roberson who wasn’t ready for the Hawkeyes’ vaunted defense and scored 7 for 21 for just 34 yards with two interceptions. The loss knocked the Nittany Lions out of the undefeated ranks and hurt their playoff chances.
Would Penn State win if Levis had stayed and was that capable substitute when Clifford got injured? Are Kentucky undefeated if they hadn’t come to Lexington?
There is no way to find out, of course.
However, the situation is an example of a new era of college football, where an open transfer portal (more free time during a season) and the possibility of earning money through name, image and likeness (where being a starter is essential) makes player movement and roster management essential to building a competitor.
This is a subject that has been addressed in this edition of the “College Football Enquirer”.
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Gone may be the days when power programs accumulated so much talent that they could eliminate serious injuries. Some will fare better than others, but the obvious ability and benefits of finding new teams on the fly should do what happened on Saturday … spread the talent and flatten the competition. It’s an exciting development for a sport that has been too heavy for too long.
Successful teams need depth, especially at the quarterback. Texas A&M defeated Alabama with substitute Zach Calzada. Oklahoma defeated Texas with substitute Caleb Williams. Georgia used substitute Stetson Bennett in a win over Auburn. Notre Dame needed substitute Tyler Buchner for a spell in a victory over Virginia Tech – and third wire Drew Pyne helped the Irish beat Wisconsin earlier this season.
The struggle is to first get several good quarterbacks and then keep them satisfied. Coaches who can keep talented – or at least capable – substitutes when instant opportunities elsewhere are available will be successful in the future.
It won’t be easy. Levis went from being a frustrated second string at State College to being a viral star in Lexington – part in the Kentucky record, part in his social media videos of eating a banana, peel and all, and drinking coffee with mayonnaise (hey, it’s 2021).
It is difficult to argue that Lévis did not make the right choice. He certainly looks happy, a smiley face on why transfers change everything. Lévis ‘Kentucky top receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was also transferred from Nebraska, which could have upset the undefeated Michigan on Saturday (and impact the Wolverines’ playoff hopes) if the Cornhuskers still had such a talent to break the game. This is how it turns out.
Meanwhile, on October 30, Michigan will face another surprise team, Michigan State, 10th. The Spartans are propelled by Heisman running back Kenneth Walker III, who arrived from Wake Forest, as one of 20 transfer portal alumni that transformed coach Mel Tucker’s schedule overnight – much faster than traditional high school recruiting classes.
It’s a new era in sports, not an established trend. Yet here, in a season that has already produced a number of upheavals – 10 top 15-ranked teams lost in the past two weeks – it speaks to much-needed chaos and unpredictability.
And maybe playoff contenders in places they haven’t traditionally existed.
Check out the full conversation, plus the “Monday Overreactions” at an epic list of Saturday games: Alabama-Texas A&M; Oklahoma-Texas; Penn State-Iowa; Michigan-Nebraska; Michigan-Rutgers State; Miss Arkansas-Ole; Georgia Auburn; West Virginia-Baylor; UConn-UMass; and a host of others. Plus the guys are handing out their little Heisman samples and trying to say something nice about something or someone.
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