To say Kentucky‘s offense last season was extremely disappointing would be a massive understatement.
After bringing in former five-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff and former four-star running back Chip Trayanum from the Transfer Portal to pair with superstar wide receivers Barion Brown and Dane Key, Kentucky averaged just 330.4 yards of offense (15th in SEC) and 20.6 points per game (last in SEC) last season.
This resulted in a 4-8 record, the worst for the program since 2013. This snapped Kentucky‘s eight-season bowl game streak, which was the longest in program history.
In a what is a nice change of pace for Kentucky fans to hear, head coach Mark Stoops revealed that he was impressed with the Wildcats’ offense in their first scrimmage Saturday morning. More importantly, Stoops also revealed that he liked what he saw from both Zach Calzada and Cutter Boley at the quarterback position.
“Getting the ball in the end zone,” Stoops responded when asked what his biggest takeaway was. “Points. That’s the bottom line. We scored some points and that’s something we know we need to improve on.”
“I think both quarterbacks played good. We played three (Calzada, Boley and Beau Allen), but Zach [Calzada] and Cutter [Boley] got the bulk of the reps. Both played very good and they took care of the football. I think conversion on some critical third downs was an improvement. Each player only had so many snaps because it was spread out, but I felt like each guy kinda of stepped up. There was nobody that was walking away from it completely disappointing until I get up and watch the film.”
Kentucky completely revamped its offense this offseason
Calzada is heading into his seventh and final collegiate football season, while Boley is embarking on just his second season. Calzada, who many have deemed as Kentucky‘s starter heading into the season, has played at Texas A&M (2019-21), Auburn (2022) and Incarnate Word (2023-24) before finally making it to Lexington. Boley played in four games as a freshman last season, where he passed for 338 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.
Although both Barion Brown and Dane Key departed from the program this offseason, the Kentucky offense added some nice additions through the portal in former Nebraska four-star running back Dante Dowdell, former Alabama four-star wide receiver Kendrick Law and former Clemson four-star wide receiver Troy Stellato.
The Southeastern Conference will get its first look at a revamped Wildcat offense on Aug. 30, when Kentucky hosts Toledo at Kroger Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:45 PM on SEC Network.
