Devin Leary and Tayvion Robinson to Play in East-West Shrine Game Thursday
Kentucky senior quarterback Devin Leary and senior wide receiver Tayvion Robinson are set to play in the 99th East-West Shrine Bowl Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. It will air at 8 p.m. ET on the NFL Network. Both players will suit up for the East team coached by Richard Hightower of the Chicago Bears.
Leary, a 6-foot-1, 217-pound quarterback of Sicklerville, New Jersey, transferred to Kentucky in January of 2023 after four seasons at NC State. He went 17-9 as a starter and left NC State ranked sixth in school history in career passing yards (6,807) and fourth in career completion percentage (.602). In 2022, he had the Wolfpack clicking on all cylinders to start the season with a 5-1 record and a top-15 national ranking. He completed 118-of-193 passes for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns when he suffered a tear in his right pectoralis major.
Following a surgery and almost a year of not playing, Leary returned to the gridiron in 2023 to lead the Wildcats to their school-record eighth consecutive bowl bid. He threw for 2,746 yards, the ninth-highest single-season mark in Wildcat history and 25 touchdowns passes which ranked second in the SEC. His 25 TD tosses were the most for a UK quarterback since Andre’ Woodson in 2007.
Leary finished his collegiate career with 9,553 yards and 87 career passing touchdowns.
Off the field, he graduated from NC State in December of 2022 with a degree in sport management.
Robinson, a 5-11, 194-pound native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, transferred to Kentucky after three seasons at Virginia Tech. In his two seasons at Kentucky, he charted 1,049 receiving yards, climbing to No. 33 on UK’s all-time receiving yards list.
For his career, he finished with 194 receptions, 2,604 receiving yards with 15 total touchdowns (14 receiving and one punt return for a score). He totaled 67 career punt returns for 639 yards.
In 2023, he ranked second on the team in receiving yards (552) and was third in receptions (41).
Off the field, Robinson graduated in December of 2023 with a degree from UK in community and leadership development.
The East-West Shrine Bowl is the longest running college all-star football game in the nation and Kentucky has had 40 Wildcats accept an invitation since 1954, including 12 under head coach Mark Stoops. In Stoops’ tenure, Leary and Robinson join Darrian Miller (2014), Za’Darius Smith (2014), C.J. Johnson (2015), Derrick Baity (2018), C.J. Conrad (2018), “Bunchy” Stallings (2018), Brandin Echols (2020), Landon Young (2020), Marquan McCall (2021), and Luke Fortner (2021).
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