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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Will Levis tied a career high with four touchdown passes, including critical scores of 70 and 40 yards to Barion Brown and Tayvion Robinson after halftime, and No. 8 Kentucky held off Northern Illinois 31-23 on Saturday night.
After allowing the pesky Huskies a tying touchdown seconds before halftime, Levis put the Wildcats (4-0) ahead 21-14 just 58 seconds into the third quarter by hitting Brown across the middle on third-and-10. Coming a snap after the senior quarterback was nearly intercepted, it was just what Kentucky needed to gain room from a NIU team unfazed by being 26-point underdogs.
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Matt Ruffolo’s 49-yard field goal later in the third provided a 10-point cushion and came during a hot stretch in which Levis completed eight consecutive attempts. Levis later found Tayvion Robinson, who spun off a tackle and ran 40 yards for his second touchdown to make it 31-17 with 8 minutes 46 seconds remaining.
That cushion helped as the Huskies fought back to within 31-23 with 2:47 left on Justin Lynch’s 2-yard run after a defensive holding penalty. Ethan Hampton’s two-point conversion pass failed, Kentucky recovered the onside kick and Levis knelt to seal the win.
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Levis overcame five sacks to complete 18 of 26 passes for 303 yards, his third 300-yard effort this season, with chunk plays on each touchdown. Robinson (seven catches, 147 yards) also had a 69-yard score on a crossing pass as Levis was a second away from a crushing sack. Brown caught four passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns, including a 15-yarder on Kentucky’s first possession.
NIU (1-3) drove 75 yards on the opening possession for Hampton’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Tristan Tewes, who also snagged a 3-yard score from Shemar Thornton six seconds before halftime. The Huskies made it a one-score game late but lost their third in a row and second in as many weeks to a Southeastern Conference school.
Northern Illinois: Like last week against Vanderbilt, the Huskies started fast and forced the Wildcats to counterpunch before shocking them with a wideout pass in the second quarter. They harassed Levis early and often but couldn’t slow his receivers, who broke coverage to get open for big-play touchdowns.
Kentucky: Pass protection remains a concern after again allowing multiple sacks of Levis, whose rollouts bought time to hit big passes later in the game.
Northern Illinois: The Huskies open MAC play Saturday at Ball State.
Kentucky: The Wildcats resume SEC play Saturday at No. 16 Mississippi.
