Five things you need to know from Kentucky football’s 52-21 win over Louisville

Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 52-21 football win over Louisville:

1. “Penn State Will Levis” turned in a boffo showing. All the talk coming into the 2021 renewal of the Governor’s Cup football rivalry was about the threat of a running quarterback.

Most expected it to be Louisville’s Malik Cunningham, not UK’s Levis, making game-altering plays with his legs, however.

But it was Levis, the 6-foot-3, 232-pound Madison, Conn., product who dominated the game with his wheels.

Levis ran 14 times for 113 yards. He had touchdown runs of 29, 7, 5 and 1 yards.

In the first half, as Kentucky was asserting control, it seemed like anytime UK was in a tight spot, Levis got the Wildcats out of it with his feet.

It must have felt like a throwback performance for Levis, who was used as a situational-running QB last season at Penn State.

But putting a cherry atop a good first season as Kentucky’s starting quarterback, Levis also completed 14 of 18 passes for 149 yards.

Levis also became the fourth straight Kentucky quarterback to win the Governor’s Cup rivalry in his first start vs. Louisville, joining Stephen Johnson (2016), Terry Wilson (2018) and Lynn Bowden.

2. A reminder why Josh Paschal is special. Kentucky’s standout senior defensive end was injured and had to be helped off the field in the third quarter.

Besides a UK trainer, it was Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops who assisted Paschal off the field. He did not return.

But before his injury, Paschal made the pivotal defensive play of the game.

UK was leading 24-7 late in the first half but Cunningham was driving the Cardinals.

Because U of L was going to get the ball to start the second half, the Cards had a golden chance to get back in the game by scoring a TD to end the first half and to start the second.

Paschal was having none of that.

On a third-and-2 play from the UK 22, Paschal knifed into the Louisville backfield and lunged and got the elusive Cunningham to the ground for a 9-yard loss.

Rather than a momentum-shifting U of L TD, the Cardinals missed a long field goal and the rout was locked in.

3. Wan’Dale’s record bid. Kentucky slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (85 receptions) entered the game needing six catches to pass James Whalen (90 catches in 1999) for the single-season UK mark for receptions in one season.

The ex-Western Hills High School star left no suspense to his bid for the record.

Robinson caught six passes in the first half, giving him 91 for the season.

In the second half, Robinson caught three more balls to give him nine catches and 97 receiving yards for the game and 94 catches on the season.

Transferring home from Nebraska turned out to be a splendid decision for Robinson.

Those of us in Kentucky were fortunate to have a chance to watch him play.

4. The rivalry numbers. With the victory, Kentucky now leads the all-time series with Louisville 18-15.

The Wildcats have won three in a row and four out of five.

Since the Governor’s Cup rivalry was resumed in 1994, UK is 12-15 vs. U of L.

The Wildcats are now 7-5 vs. U of L in Cardinal Stadium since it opened in 1998.

Mark Stoops is now 4-4 as Kentucky coach vs. Louisville. In the modern Governor’s Cup, only former U of L head man Bobby Petrino (4-0 vs. UK from 2003 through 2006; 3-1 vs. the Cats from 2014-2017) has more wins in the rivalry than Stoops.

Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham is now 0-3 as a starter in the Governor’s Cup rivalry. He joins former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen (1-3 from 2000 through 2003) as the only starting QBs to lose three Governor’s Cup rivalry games.

5. The big-picture numbers. With the win, Kentucky has now won 15 straight non-league games. The Wildcats’ last loss to a team from outside the SEC was the 24-23 loss to Northwestern in the 2017 Music City Bowl.

Five of those 15 straight non-league victories have come over ACC foes — 3-0 vs. Louisville plus bowl wins over Virginia Tech (2019 Belk Bowl) and North Carolina State (2020 Gator Bowl).

Mark Stoops now stands 58-53 (since 2013) as Kentucky head coach.

Stoops needs three more victories to pass Paul “Bear” Bryant (60-23-5 from 1946 through 1953) as UK’s all-time coaching wins leader.

The victory pushed the all-time record of the Kentucky football program to 638-635-44.

That means that, whatever the outcome of UK’s bowl game, the Wildcats program will carry an all-time winning record into the offseason.

Fashion police

For its 2021 regular-season finale, Kentucky wore silver chrome helmets, white jerseys with blue letters and numbers and white pants.

Since the start of the 2015 season, Kentucky is 3-2 in silver chrome helmets over all white uniforms.