After Zach Calzada’s injury, Cutter Boley has chance to start for Kentucky
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Quarterback Zach Calzada exited Kentucky's loss to Ole Miss with injury.
- Backup Cutter Boley may start next week after showing potential in fall camp.
- Kentucky's offense suffered from miscommunications and personnel errors.
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Gameday: No. 20 Ole Miss 30, Kentucky 23
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Ole Miss football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Mark Stoops might have had his quarterback decision made for him Saturday in the fourth quarter of a 30-23 loss to Ole Miss.
Struggling starter Zach Calzada, who had completed 15 of 30 passes for 149 yards to that point, was sidelined by a shoulder injury from a hit on a failed fourth-and-9 conversion with 7:50 remaining and did not return to the game.
After the loss, Stoops said he did not know the extent of Calzada’s injury but acknowledged he would have to consider starting backup Cutter Boley next week regardless.
“I would think (Calzada) would more than likely miss Monday or Tuesday (practice),” Stoops said. “But I want to see Cutter.”
While the offense was stopped again on fourth down on the Ole Miss side of the field after Boley replaced Calzada, there is an argument to be made for going with the redshirt freshman moving forward regardless of Calzada’s status.
UK coaches have called Boley the program’s quarterback of the future and said he made a push for the starting job late in camp. Calzada has thrown for just 234 yards in two games with one interception. He was lucky to avoid multiple interceptions early in the game against Ole Miss.
“There were some throws that were there,” Stoops said. “I feel like our vision has to be better at quarterback and and get the ball out of his hands, because there were some things that were there. Not easy, not like they weren’t gonna be contested, but there were some plays where we gotta get rid of the ball.”
Regardless of who starts at quarterback for Kentucky’s game against Eastern Michigan next week, the offensive operation must improve.
The Wildcats were forced to burn three timeouts in the first half when the offense could not get the correct personnel group on the field in time to snap the ball. Then on the final drive before halftime — after Kentucky had driven to the edge of kicker Jacob Kauwe’s range — another substitution mishap led to a penalty that prevented even the chance at three points before halftime.
Missing points on that drive hurt and contributed to Stoops electing to try the two fourth-quarter fourth downs rather than kicking field goals that could have tightened the score.
“It’s really inexcusable, to be totally honest with you,” Stoops said. “There’s there’s things where we are trying to get the best personnel we can with certain plays and certain things, and we’ve got to be better. We’ve just got to function better.”
Stoops told offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan he felt the offense was substituting too much at halftime and felt the operation was smoother after addressing that issue at halftime.
There was at least one positive drive with Calzada at quarterback when the offense marched 75 yards on six plays for a touchdown in the third quarter. The big play on that drive was a 44-yard pass to Ja’Mori Maclin down the sideline, but even that ball was slightly underthrown, allowing the defender Maclin had beaten to catch up with him.
“I think there are a lot of positives,” Hamdan said. “I know we don’t want to go in that direction, but there’s a lot of things we need to build on. This can be a good offense, a really good football team, and that’s going to be the message.”
While the ABC broadcast initially reported Calzada had injured the same shoulder he had surgically repaired earlier in his career while at Auburn, Calzada told reporters after the game the injury was actually to his opposite shoulder.
The fact that Calzada was made available for interviews after the game suggests his injury might not be a long-term issue, but missing any time in practice this week could hurt his chances to retain the starting job at a time when the pass attack needs drastic improvement.
Boley completed 1 of 3 passes for 38 yards in his short time on the field Saturday but has experience against SEC competition after impressing in the second half against Texas during a November cameo as a freshman.
“I think the best thing that we can do is, is keep both of those guys’ heads up and keep it a healthy competition,” running back Seth McGowan said of the quarterbacks. “That’s a big, big thing. Sometimes competition can get a little personal, and that’s not what we want. That’s not what we’re about.
“I don’t think any guy came here to just be the guy. I think we all came here to win. And so, whatever we got to do to get them on the same page with that, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM.
