Kentucky redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley can force the issue of playing time on Saturday, to make coach Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan anoint him the Wildcats’ starter moving forward.
UK announced quarterback Zach Calzada did not practice on Monday after leaving Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss late in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed shoulder injury.
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Even if Calzada is cleared to play against Eastern Michigan, perhaps he shouldn’t to ensure he’ll be in better health for SEC play. UK should be able to win this one regardless of who’s under center.
Calzada, who transferred from Incarnate Word after previous stops at Texas A&M and Auburn, started the first two games of the season, but hasn’t exactly solidified the position.
Calzada ranks last among SEC starting quarterbacks in passing yards per game. And UK ranks last or near the bottom in the SEC in most offensive categories, including passing offense, averaging just 136 yards per game.
If Boley can inject life into an otherwise stagnant passing game, the job should be his to claim. Will he be ready to take it though?
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His only career start left a bad impression. And given that he didn’t beat out Calzada in fall camp it’s a great unknown if he’s ready, capable even, of being the guy.
Boley got his first career start last season in UK’s 41-14 loss to Louisville. He was 6-for-15 passing for 48 yards with two interceptions and was sacked twice in just two full quarters of play. Boley was knocked from the game early in the third quarter on a hit to the head that was flagged for targeting.
The thing about defining Boley by the Louisville loss last season is he wasn’t even supposed to be there.
If he looked like a high school senior playing against a NCAA Division I defense, that’s because technically, he should’ve still been at Lexington Christian Academy last year. He re-classified in order to enroll at UK early.
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This week, UK’s staff should show Boley clips from his performance off the bench at Texas last season as a confidence booster. It was a glimpse of why former UK recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach coach Vince Marrow, who’s now the general manager at U of L, deemed him “the future of the program.”
Boley replaced Brock Vandagriff in the second half and completed 10 of 18 passes for 160 yards, which included a 43-yard completion, against the Longhorns.
On Saturday against Ole Miss his only completion was a 33-yard strike. Downfield passing is the biggest weakness the Cats’ offense has shown in their first two games and the area it seems Boley can help them the most.
The loss to Ole Miss proved a couple of things about this team. The Cats can win games with this defense. And the running back tandem of Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan might just be one of the best duos in the conference.
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That leaves Boley with a window of opportunity, if he can make the passing game effective enough to keep opposing defenses honest.
UK faces a gauntlet of games after Eastern Michigan that offer no breathing room: at South Carolina, at Georgia, Texas and Tennessee. Saturday is likely the last time the Cats will be favored until Tennessee Tech comes to town on Nov. 15.
By that time, UK fans might have already moved on to basketball.
What they need is a quarterback that shows some promise. It’s time to see if Boley can fit that role.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky football: Cutter Boley may have shot to replace Zach Calzada
