Mark Stoops not ready to name a starting QB for Eastern Michigan game

Kentucky fans will have to wait a little longer to learn who the Wildcats will start at quarterback against Eastern Michigan.

Zach Calzada remained the listed starter on the pre-Eastern Michigan depth chart released Monday, but UK coaches have not made any changes to the public depth chart through two games. Calzada struggled in his first two starts for Kentucky and left Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury. UK coach Mark Stoops said Calzada would not practice Monday but he was unsure about his status for the rest of the week.

“Zach understands there’s things that we all can do better, that he can do better,” Stoops said. “We probably left some plays on the field. He’s resilient. He’s been around. He’s a little beat up right now, but has to get himself healthy and get back out there as soon as he can. And he’ll be fine.”

After the loss, Stoops suggested he would consider a quarterback switch regardless of Calzada’s injury status. Backup Cutter Boley, who Stoops has described as the program’s quarterback of the future, played the last two drives.

On Monday, Stoops declined to confirm if Calzada would start against Eastern Michigan as long as he was available.

“I’m excited to see Cutter,” he said. “I say that about every every position, when somebody gets hurt. I never want to see a player get hurt, but when that happens, about every time I’ve been up here I said I can’t wait to see so-and-so play. ... So don’t overblow that for the quarterback, like everybody does.

“I’m always excited for the next man up and and I’m excited to see Cutter, and Cutter absolutely will play.”

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.

The offense looked much the same in Boley’s late cameo against Ole Miss. He completed 1 of 3 passes for 38 yards. The Wildcats did covert a field goal on Boley’s final drive before failing to recover an onside kick with less than 10 seconds remaining.

This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 12:18 PM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription