Picking the best Kentucky Wildcats quarterback from each of the past 9 decades
With renowned quarterback whisperer Will Stein now running the Kentucky football program, the Wildcats hope to be at the dawn of a period of ascendant QB play.
Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey is expected to be the first starting quarterback of the Stein coaching era in Lexington. UK backers want to believe that Stein can approach with Minchey the success that he enjoyed as Oregon offensive coordinator with transfer QBs Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore.
So as the Big Blue Nation anticipates Kentucky football being defined moving forward by high-level QB play, it seems an appropriate moment to look to the best quarterbacks of UK’s football past.
For the fun of it, let’s choose the best Kentucky quarterback from each of the past nine decades.
The 1940s: George Blanda
The skinny: Long before Blanda became an ageless NFL wonder for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s, he helped launch the Bear Bryant coaching era at UK. Blanda quarterbacked the Wildcats to records of 8-3 in 1947 and 5-3-2 in 1948. With Blanda at the controls, Kentucky beat Villanova 24-14 in the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl in Cleveland, the first bowl appearance in UK history.
The 1950s: Babe Parilli
The skinny: Even now, “the sweet Kentucky Babe” has a more-than-viable claim as the best quarterback in UK football history. As starting QB, Parilli led Kentucky to its greatest football heights — trips to the Orange, Sugar and Cotton bowls for the 1949, 1950 and 1951 seasons, respectively.
Not only did Bryant and UK go 28-8 over Parilli’s final three seasons, the Rochester, Pennsylvania, product still ranks as Kentucky’s ninth all-time leading passer (4,351 yards) some 74 years after he took his final snap in UK blue.
Another notable QB from the 1950s: Bob Hardy earned a permanent place in Kentucky sports lore when the Paducah product quarterbacked the Wildcats to wins over border rival Tennessee in 1953, 1954 and 1955.
The 1960s: Rick Norton
The skinny: The product of Louisville’s Flaget High School quarterbacked Kentucky to three combined wins over top-10-ranked opponents in 1964 and 1965. Norton led the SEC in both passing (1,514 yards) and passing touchdowns (nine) in 1964.
The 1970s: Derrick Ramsey
The skinny: A battering ram of a runner at 6-foot-5, 222 pounds, Ramsey still stands as the all-time leading rusher among Kentucky QBs and as the 13th overall leading rusher in UK history (1,764 yards). Renowned for his leadership qualities, Ramsey led Kentucky (9-3) to a share of the SEC title in 1976 and to a 10-1 season in 1977.
The 1980s: Bill Ransdell
The skinny: As a sophomore in 1984, “Dollar Bill” quarterbacked Kentucky to a 9-3 season that included a road win at Tennessee and a Hall of Fame Bowl upset of No. 19 Wisconsin. The Elizabethtown product is still fifth in all-time passing at UK with 5,456 career yards.
The 1990s: Tim Couch
The skinny: In two seasons running Hal Mumme’s Air Raid offense, the Leslie County product put up the two most-prolific passing seasons in Kentucky history. Couch threw for 4,275 yards in 1998 and 3,884 yards in 1997.
The best UK passing QB of the Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field era, Couch was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns.
The 2000s: Andre Woodson
The skinny: Woodson quarterbacked Kentucky to 16 combined wins in 2006 and 2007 that included back-to-back victories over Clemson (2006) and Florida State (2007) in the Music City Bowl. The North Hardin product ended his UK career as the No. 2 all-time passer in school history (9,360 yards) and as the single-season Wildcats’ record holder for touchdown passes (40 in 20007).
Another notable QB from the 2000s: Jared Lorenzen finished his UK career (2000 through 2003) as Kentucky’s all-time career passing leader (10,637 yards). As the starting QB while UK worked through severe penalties resulting from the NCAA sanctions that had followed a Hal Mumme-era cheating scandal, Lorenzen won 14 times in 41 career starts.
The 2010s: Stephen Johnson
The skinny: Kentucky went 14-10 over two seasons (2016 and 2017) in games in which Johnson took the preponderance of the snaps. Only weeks before Lamar Jackson was awarded the 2016 Heisman Trophy, Johnson out-dueled the Louisville star to lead UK to a 41-38 road upset of the No. 11 Cardinals. In spite of playing only two years at Kentucky, Johnson stands eighth in UK history in total offense with 5,044 yards.
Other notable QBs from the 2010s: Mike Hartline’s 2010 season (3,178 passing yards, 26 touchdowns vs. nine interceptions) is the seventh-best passing year in UK history. ... Patrick Towles was responsible for five of the 18 total 300-yards-plus passing games by Kentucky quarterbacks during the Mark Stoops coaching era (2013 through 2025). ... Terry Wilson went 17-8 as the UK starter (2018 through 2020) and, in 2018, delivered the Wildcats’ first win over Florida since 1986.
The 2020s: Will Levis
The skinny: A transfer from Penn State, Levis went 17-7 in two seasons (2021 and 2022) as the Kentucky starting quarterback. Though he played only two seasons, Levis is the sixth all-time leading passer in UK history with 5,233 career yards.
