Penn State football's offseason of personnel movement took its biggest turn Thursday.
In moves that were announced on Twitter, backup quarterback Will Levis and Sam linebacker Lance Dixon both entered the NCAA Transfer Portal within three hours of each other.
Not a Subscriber? Join us With Our FREE 30-Day Premium Trial
The news comes as the Nittany Lions are wrapping up their second week of winter workouts.
A rising redshirt junior, Levis spent his first season with the Nittany Lions taking a redshirt in 2018 before serving as the primary backup to starter Sean Clifford in each of the past two seasons, appearing in seven games in 2019 and eight in 2020. However, due to injuries to Clifford toward the end of the 2019 season, Levis took over in a second-half comeback loss at Ohio State and, due to a coach's decision to bench Clifford midway through this past season, started his second career game in Week Five against Iowa.
Primarily used as a running threat in each of his two seasons of action, Levis completed 28 of 47 passes for 223 yards and two scores in '19, then followed it with 33 completions on 55 attempts for 421 yards and a touchdown this past season.
Stepping up for Clifford late in the first half of the Nittany Lions' loss at Nebraska, Levis went on to guide the program to a second-half comeback, ultimately falling short with two failed red zone appearances late in the fourth quarter. In a sign of Penn State's ongoing conflict regarding its use of Levis, head coach James Franklin described afterwards the jolt brought to the field as well as the shortcomings that left the Nittany Lions on the wrong side of the ledger in the game.
"I thought Will did some really good things, but we got to be more detailed in the passing game and we got to be better in the red zone offense," Franklin said. "Some of those balls we just got to put them in a position where our guys have a chance to go get it.
"He went in and gave us a spark. He made plays in the passing game. I thought he did a good job managing the game overall and he made some good throws. So we're gonna have to build on that, there's no doubt about it. He was fairly efficient, but we need to be a little bit more consistent in the details and the things that we're doing. But yeah, I think he definitely gave us a spark and gives us something to build on for sure."
The next week against the Hawkeyes, earning the coach's decision start, Levis completed 13 of 16 pass attempts but was only able to pick up 106 yards in the process and, maybe more importantly, found the Nittany Lions in a 24-7 deficit at the half. Coughing up a fumble early in the second half that would propel the Hawkeyes to a 31-7 advantage, the decision was made to relieve Levis with Clifford, who sparked a comeback that also ultimately fell short to send the Nittany Lions to an 0-5 start on the year.
Though Levis would remain a component in the Lions' offense the rest of the way as Clifford helped guide the team to a four-game winning streak to close the season, he was relegated largely to designed quarterback carries. In fact, following his start against Iowa, Levis attempted just eight more passes the rest of the season, scoring his first passing touchdown of the season in the Lions' year-end win against Illinois.
Levis' statement reads in full:
Nittany Nation,
The past three years that I have spent at the Pennsylvania State University have been filled with tremendous experiences, friendships, and valuable lessons that have helped transform the 18-year-old boy that walked onto campus in May of 2018 into the man that I am today. Penn State has provided me with everything I could have ever asked for from an academic, athletic, and social development standpoint.
I want to thank my professors and the support staff that ' have helped guide me through my academic journey. I greatly appreciate their advice helping me navigate through my academic career. It was an honor to be accepted into the prestigious Smeal College of Business. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Finance within three years would not have been possible without their support.
I can't thank Coach Franklin and the rest of the Penn State Football staff, both past and present, enough for everything they have done to develop me both as a player and a human being. I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to be able to play and contribute for such a historic program. The blood, sweat, and tears that I have shed alongside my brothers here are deeply engraved in my memory and will never be forgotten.
I also want to thank Penn State for providing me with the opportunity to meet such a wide variety of talented people. The student body, alumni and fans are beyond outstanding! I am humbled to have been a part of this special Penn State community.
With all of that being said, I have decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate transfer with 3 years of athletic eligibility remaining. Penn State will forever have a special place in my heart. I am extremely proud to be leaving here as an alumnus.
WE ARE!
*******
Levis will have three seasons of eligibility remaining at his next destination.
Meanwhile, Levis' decision came on the heels of Dixon's entrance into the NCAA Transfer Portal earlier in the afternoon.
A participant in all nine games for the NIttany Lions this season, Dixon was credit with one start against Ohio State while sharing the Sam linebacker spot with true freshman Curtis Jacobs. Finishing the year with 191 snaps, Dixon made 10 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and a forced fumble on the season following a true freshman campaign in 2019 in which he played in three games and had two tackles on the year.
Early in the season, Franklin expressed his optimism for Dixon and the trajectory on which his second year in the program appeared to be.
"He's obviously a very talented guy. I'm really proud of Lance. He's grown in so many different ways," Franklin said at his Oct. 28 press conference. "I think a lot of the specific technical fundamental things of playing linebacker and all the different looks that you have to defend with the offenses that we see and what we're asking them to do on defense, I think he just continues to grow and build confidence and transitions from a really athletic high school player to a big-time college linebacker and I see him getting better every single day.
"A lot of those young guys that we've recruited are in similar phases. And I think that's the hard part. Everybody wants it to happen, like, yesterday. And there's an evolution and there's not a whole lot of patience left in our society. But I think these guys, Lance is a really good example of that, these young players that I think are going to be really, really good players and we need it to happen yesterday, but I'm really pleased with his maturation and how he's evolved."
Dixon will have three years of eligibility remaining at his next destination.
*******
• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated
• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98
• Like us on Facebook
