Cutter Boley to start for Kentucky football versus Eastern Michigan
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Quarterback Cutter Boley will start after Zach Calzada's shoulder injury.
- Boley impressed in fall camp and past cameos, despite inconsistent results.
- Eastern Michigan offers a favorable matchup after Boley's late promotion.
The future is now for Kentucky football at quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Cutter Boley will start against Eastern Michigan. UK coach Mark Stoops has long described Boley as the program’s future but elected to sign Zach Calzada as a transfer from FCS Incarnate Word in December to give Boley more time to develop.
Calzada, who started the first two games of the 2025 season, was in uniform for the game after suffering a shoulder injury late in the loss to Ole Miss but did not participate in pregame warmups.
While Boley, a former four-star recruit from Lexington Christian Academy, impressed in second-half cameos against Murray State and Texas during his redshirt season in 2024, Calzada was the overwhelming favorite to start from the moment he committed to UK. Kentucky did not score on any of Boley’s 10 drives against Power Four competition last season, and Calzada brought six seasons of college experience to the job.
Calzada took the vast majority of first-team reps during preseason practice, but Stoops praised Boley for his performance in the second scrimmage of camp, telling supporters at a preseason kickoff luncheon the race was too close to call. Still, a week later Stoops named Calzada his starter as expected.
“I’m just excited to be out here and competing,” Boley said during the last week of camp. “I’m just preparing like I’m going to be the starter. I’m preparing like any point, whenever my time comes, I’m gonna be 100% ready, and that’s all really I’m thinking about.”
That time is now after Calzada’s injury. Since Calzada struggled in the first two games before the injury, Boley appears to have a chance to seize control of the job moving forward, too.
In his Kentucky debut, Calzada completed just 10 of 23 passes for 85 yards with one interception in a 24-16 win over Toledo. Calzada also was tackled in the end zone for a safety in that game on a play where he was supposed to hand the ball to a running back but elected to keep it instead. Against Ole Miss, he completed 15 of 30 passes for 149 yards and was lucky to avoid multiple interceptions in the first half.
Stoops issued a vote of confidence in Calzada after the Toledo game but left open the possibility of Boley playing too. He compared Boley’s developmental path to that of Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, who has taken over the Rebels starting job in his third season in the program.
“We will evaluate those things, both guys are going to get better,” Stoops said. “And I will say after watching the (Toledo) tape several times, I felt better about it because there are things that we know we could get fixed and (Calzada) will play well.”
Calzada’s injury likely made the decision much easier for the staff, but the offense looked much the same in Boley’s late cameo against Ole Miss. He completed 1 of 3 passes for 38 yards.
Expectations will need to be managed for Boley.
He threw a pick six on his first career pass after coming off the bench late in a blowout loss at Florida last season. He failed to complete any of his six pass attempts in that game.
The performance was much better the next time Kentucky fans saw Boley almost a month later. He played the entire second half against FCS Murray State, completing 10 of 14 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. A week later, he came of the bench again in the second half at Texas, completing 10 of 18 passes for 160 yards and one interception.
Boley struggled in his first career start in the 2024 finale against Louisville. He completed 6 of 15 passes for 48 yards and two interceptions before being sidelined by a head injury.
The Murray State and Texas performances increased the hype for Boley, but Kentucky was left without a veteran quarterback on the roster after 2024 starter Brock Vandagriff retired rather than use his last season of eligibility and backup Gavin Wimsatt elected to transfer in search of a starting opportunity at a smaller school. Kentucky signed Calzada to fill that role, giving Boley more time to develop.
Even though Calzada won the job as expected in preseason camp, Boley did impress while playing mostly against the second-team defense.
“There’s been fast improvement, if you will,” UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said of Boley this week. “I think naturally, when a guy comes from high school to college — and then it’s like, you’re not just coming to college, you’re coming to the SEC — there’s a little bit of the surprise factor speeding up play.
“But we thought he had a really, really good fall camp. He was sharp. His feet were in rhythm, and so we got a lot of confidence in him.”
Eastern Michigan should represent a soft landing spot for Boley. The Eagles are 0-2 after a loss to FCS Long Island University last week. Eastern Michigan surrendered more than 200 passing yards to both Texas State and Long Island.
Boley’s backup for the Eastern Michigan game is expected to be senior Beau Allen. Freshmen Brennen Ward and Stone Saunders are also available.
This story was originally published September 13, 2025 at 7:02 PM.