Will Levis has another Robinson — this time Tayvion — as his go-to receiver at Kentucky
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Game day: Kentucky 37, Miami (Ohio) 13
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Miami (Ohio) football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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They might share a last name, a position and a high-profile recruitment out of the transfer portal to Kentucky football, but Tayvion Robinson and Wan’Dale Robinson are different players.
Four days before his Kentucky football debut, Tayvion made sure to emphasize that point when asked how he felt about the ongoing comparisons to the player he was replacing in UK’s offense.
After Tayvion totaled six catches for 136 yards in the season-opening 37-13 win over Miami (Ohio), the comparisons are not going away anytime soon, though.
“He’s a baller,” offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said of Will Levis’s new go-to target. “I mean, he is a really good football player. I’ve said that. He is a leader. He can do a little bit of everything, the stability he provides us all because we have a lot of youth out there.”
The near-capacity crowd at Kroger Field surely had Wan’Dale flashbacks when Tayvion caught an intermediate pass and scrambled 45 yards on Kentucky’s first offensive play of the game. Dubbed “Sweet Feet” as a freshman at Virginia Tech, Tayvion repeatedly backed up that nickname by tallying 103 of his 136 receiving yards after the catch.
The emergence of freshmen wide receivers Dane Key and Barion Brown, who combined for seven catches for 98 yards and one touchdown, as well as a deep tight end group should make Kentucky’s passing game more versatile this year, but it was clear in the opener that Levis will go to the receiver named Robinson most often for a second consecutive year.
Tayvion led Kentucky with eight targets, most of which came while the game was still in doubt. Like Wan’Dale, he also showed glimpses of the electric ability ability as a punt returner that earned him preseason All-SEC honors by multiple media outlets.
“They’re very comparable,” Kentucky wide receivers coach Scott Woodward said of the two Robinsons before the game. “They’ve both got a great football mind. They’re both very smart kids. That’s what helped Wan’Dale be who he is today. I think Tayvion has got that similar mindset to him.
“Tayvion is a little bit smoother, I’d say, than Wan’Dale. Wan’Dale has some more quickness than Tayvion does. But they both have great feel when they’re on the football field, they both have excellent hands and they’re both great route-runners.”
Woodward predicted before the opener it would be difficult to take the Virginia Tech transfer off the field this season. While backup slot receiver Chauncey Magwood did catch a touchdown, nothing about the season-opening win refuted that point.
Brown and Key both provide the type of dynamic outside receiving threats that Kentucky’s offense lacked a year ago. Levis’s reliance on Wan’Dale did not prevent the Frankfort native from breaking Kentucky’s school records for catches and receiving yards in a single season, but the passing game as a whole stands to benefit from more capable receiving options this fall.
Perhaps that is why Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops felt comfortable predicting to Wan’Dale that his replacement would have a big game when chatting with the New York Giants second-round draft pick as he visited with former coaches and teammates on the field before the game.
“The nice thing about him is he’s experienced,” Stoops said. “He’s a good football player. He has a good feel for it. He’s talented. He works hard.”
The presence of the other competent receiving options all but ensures Tayvion will not approach Wan’Dale’s record-breaking numbers for Kentucky, but he did come out on top of the head-to-head comparison in the two UK debuts. A year ago, Wan’Dale totaled five catches for 125 yards with two touchdowns in his Kentucky debut versus Louisiana-Monroe.
In three years at Virginia Tech, Tayvion did not record a 100-yard receiving performance. He had reached that number by halftime in his first game as a Wildcat.
“They’re different players,” Levis said during preseason camp when asked to compare Tayvion to Wan’Dale. “I think Wan’Dale is probably a little faster than him. … Tayvion has a really good feel. Being a little bigger, his catch radius is a little bigger, too. Dale was amazing. He could do some incredible things with his body, but he is limited by his size. He’s not going to let anyone tell him that.
“I’m going to try to give him an accurate ball, but even if it is six inches off Tayvion might be able to make the catch whereas Wan’Dale might not be able to. It’s just little things like that.”
There could be more wrinkles for Tayvion in Kentucky’s offense coming, too.
Scangarello, who also joined the program in the offseason, acknowledged after the season-opening win he held back parts of his scheme to prevent showing week-two opponent Florida what to expect in the SEC opener. Former Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen had to get creative with ways to find Wan’Dale the ball a year ago as defenses knew he was often the only target in the passing game.
Kentucky fans can expect similar strategies to emerge in the coming weeks now that Tayvion has shown his big-play ability.
Of course, to truly match Wan’Dale’s impact at Kentucky Tayvion will have to contribute to a historic season and provide game-changing highlights like Wan’Dale’s performance on the game-winning drive in the Citrus Bowl win over Iowa.
Tayvion credited his offseason work with Levis for the immediate impact in the opener. He acknowledged wanting to make an early statement to prove to fans that he could be counted on as a playmaker after his transfer.
Tayvion’s goals are the same as Wan’Dale’s a year ago. He just wants to reach them for his own reasons.
“I love that guy,” he said of Wan’Dale before the game. “He helped me get here. He was my host on my visit. He’s a great player, obviously with what he did last season, but we’re two completely different guys. Both playmakers but have a different game.
“I’m here to make a name for myself this season.”
Next game
No. 20 Kentucky at Florida
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN
Records: UK 1-0, Florida 1-0
Series: Florida leads 53-19
Last meeting: UK won 20-13 on Oct. 2, 2021, in Lexington
This story was originally published September 4, 2022 at 1:12 AM.
