Redshirt road start: Mark Story and Caroline Makauskas discuss UK’s QB situation

The day after Cutter Boley was elevated above Zach Calzada to the top of the depth chart for Kentucky football’s first road game of the season, Saturday’s night game at South Carolina, Herald-Leader sports reporter Caroline Makauskas and sports columnist Mark Story discussed the decision to start Boley, expectations for the quarterback room and the offensive line and the challenges presented by South Carolina.

Caroline Makauskas: I’ll start with, were you surprised to see Cutter be named QB1 ahead of South Carolina? Why or why not?

Mark Story: I was a little. I thought he would start just because I thought he played fairly well against Eastern Michigan. And, given that they had struggled in the passing game in the first two games, I thought they would probably stay with him. I was surprised that they so definitively named him that they changed the depth chart. Because UK, a lot of time, their depth chart doesn’t change all year unless there’s significant injuries. So that part did surprise me, that they named him.

Caroline Makauskas: That’s atypical for them?

Mark Story: Well, it can be. I mean, a lot of times they’re a little cagey, especially with quarterbacks. But it’s not clear to me that Calzada has practiced much since the injured shoulder against Ole Miss. So, maybe they just thought it was obvious, so why not do it?

Caroline Makauskas: Everyone has been quick to point out that Eastern Michigan was coming off an FCS loss entering this game. No one thought it was going to be some Goliath, but what did you like about Cutter from that performance? What did you see that maybe could translate to more prominent opponents?

Mark Story: I thought he was able to drive the ball down the field. I thought he threw into windows and was able to drive the ball into tight windows. I mean, Eastern Michigan is a bad defense. You look at their metrics coming into that game, they were one of the worst defenses in the country. So, you have to figure that in.

I don’t know that the fact that Cutter had some success against them, I don’t think that proves that he’s going to be a success in the SEC. But, if he hadn’t had success against that defense, I think it would have been a really bad sign. So I thought it was important that that, you know, I didn’t think he was great, but I thought he was good. And I think he’s gotten better. He’s bigger. He’s better at throwing off-platform than I expected. He’s pretty good when he has to move, and is able to look downfield and deliver the ball. So I thought there were some encouraging things out of that game. I do think you have to factor in the level of the defense he was going against.

Caroline Makauskas: Because we haven’t seen a ton of him in game situations, you may not have an answer to this, but in terms of his development. They signed him and they’ve been calling him “the quarterback of the future” for Kentucky, right? Have you noticed him taking any steps, or do you not even feel that you can speak to that since hopping on campus?

Mark Story: Well, as you point out, he hasn’t played a lot. I think physical development has been the most noticeable thing. He’s put a lot of weight on. He was really skinny last year, and he’s not now. I mean, he’s filled out. That to me is the biggest thing.

We’ll see. He’s going to get a pretty good test Saturday night. He’s going to be in a very difficult road environment at South Carolina. Last year, South Carolina’s edge rushers just humiliated Kentucky. I mean, it was embarrassing. I think Kentucky is better at the tackles than it was last year. We’re going to find out how much better. So, I think that will be better.

I thought one thing Cutter did, there was one play against Eastern Michigan — and I don’t think he completed the pass, but he conspicuously stepped up in the pocket and delivered the football. And that’s something that Kentucky had not been doing in the first two games. Calzada, for whatever reason, had leaked out of the pocket a lot when it looked to me like there was a pocket to step into, and he was leaking out of it. Against South Carolina, at least if South Carolina is getting the pressure off the edge it was last year, you’re going to need to step up. And I thought it was encouraging that Cutter showed at least on that one particular play against Eastern Michigan, he showed the capacity to read that and do it.

Benching Zach Calzada

Caroline Makauskas: Going back a little bit, when they brought in Calzada, I would imagine you weren’t surprised that they brought in an experienced transfer, but at what point are you expecting them to really kind of lean into the Cutter Experience, if at all?

Mark Story: Well, I think it depends on how he plays. I think if he plays well, they’re in. They’ve put him at number one on the depth chart. I think if he plays well and shows promise, and they feel like he’s given them a chance in games, I think he’s got the job.

The history of this is, as our colleague John Hale pointed out in his story [on Tuesday], the history during the Mark Stops era when quarterbacks in season have lost the job, or have had their hold on the job come into question via performance, the number one quarterback usually gets back in. So, that’s sort of what Cutter Boley, that’s the trend he’s trying to reverse here.

Caroline Makauskas: It’s a tall task for him, though. The way I’m viewing it, it seems to be a really tough situation that he’s found himself in. Because the schedule only gets harder from here on out. And Calzada didn’t look great against lesser competition. Obviously, Ole Miss was there, but you know, I don’t think he looked great against lesser competition regardless. Now, Cutter has to come in and play a really difficult stretch. And then it’s like, when do you pull the plug? Then oh, you have to go back to Calzada. But there’s no promise that he’s going to look any better.

Mark Story: Well, the difference is, one, Calzada is a seventh-year player. He will turn 25 during the season. Cutter is a redshirt freshman. He’s young. So, the difference is, if you’re playing the younger quarterback, you hope you’re reaping developmental benefits from that. I mean, with Calzada, you have to think he is what he is at this point. He’s a finished product. With Cutter, you’re hoping that he’ll get better. You’re right, you’re sort of throwing him into the heart of the schedule, but that’s the SEC. If he’s going to be an SEC quarterback, these are the teams he’s going to have to play against. I think there’s a decent chance that he will rise to the occasion and play well enough that they stay with him.

Caroline Makauskas: What were your expectations like for Zach Calzada coming into the season?

Mark Story: Well, my hope was you were going to see the benefits of an experienced quarterback. You know, do the little things right, run things efficiently, make the right decisions, that kind of thing. That, to me, was kind of what was the most distressing was, in the Mississippi game, at least in the first half, they had so much trouble getting plays off. And that obviously was not all on the quarterback, or maybe not even primarily on the quarterback, but that was a big problem. And in the Toledo game, they were not very efficient in the passing game. And that, to me, is kind of the rationale for the change, is that aside from the injury situation, you just weren’t reaping the benefits you expect to reap from having a really experienced quarterback.

How good is ‘the Big Blue Wall?’

Caroline Makauskas: You kind of talked about the edge rushers. Dylan Stewart obviously came up on Monday, and it makes a lot of sense that he came up on Monday. But what are you seeing from the offensive line so far? It might be too soon to tell, but do you think they look better than they have in recent years?

Mark Story: I do. Now, it’s a fourth of the way through the season. It’s three games, but only one SEC game. They’ve only given up three sacks, but all three of those sacks were in the SEC game. I think it is a better offensive line than last year. I think the middle, the center and the guards have been pretty good. I think the jury’s still out a little bit on the tackles, but I do think the tackles are better than what Kentucky had last year. So I think I’m comfortable saying I think it is a better offensive line. I think it’s still to be determined just in terms of what that means against really good SEC teams, but I do think it’s better than last year. I think the run blocking’s better. I think the pass protection’s been better.

Caroline Makauskas: Softball question: What does that do to set Cutter up for success in this road game?

Mark Story: Well, we’re going to see. Because, as we’ve discussed, South Carolina’s pass rush gave them fits last year. But I think it at least gives him a chance at success. It’s going to be hard. South Carolina is a tough road environment, and this is a good defense, good at rushing the passer. So, yeah, this is a tough challenge for a redshirt freshman quarterback to make his first road start in the Southeastern Conference.

Kentucky’s quarterback depth

Caroline Makauskas: Thought exercise: We’ve been told different things. It seems like Calzada is not 100% healthwise. In the event that Cutter was unable to play, he got hurt. What is your faith in the quarterback room?

Mark Story: Well, I like Beau Allen, personally. I’ve been writing about him since he was at Lexington Catholic. I think he’s a great kid, and just on a personal level, I’d like to see him get a shot at it. Beau has played college football. He was the Western Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year at Tarleton State the year he transferred away from UK. So, I’d like to see him get a shot.

Caroline Makauskas: Fair enough.

Mark Story: I don’t want to see anybody get hurt. But I do like Beau, and on a personal level would like to see him get a shot to play.

Caroline Makauskas: Of course. I hadn’t really thought that much about the fact that this really is the first road game. They’re jumping in right away. So many teams have already been tested, found that, even Ole Miss coming here, they were favored. They were ranked that week, but it can’t be easy. And I wonder how much harder it is to go into your first road game, especially against South Carolina, when there are so many question marks.

Mark Story: Well, you know, we saw with Ole Miss, with Austin Simmons, a young quarterback in his first road game, threw two interceptions in the first quarter. This is hard. Kentucky won at South Carolina in 2015, 2017 and 2021. So, it’s not like it’s impossible to win there. This is tough, though; you’re taking a redshirt freshman quarterback on the road in the Southeastern Conference. That’s not an easy thing to do.

Evaluating SEC quarterbacks

Caroline Makauskas: Expanding out to the SEC as a whole, have you been surprised by the quarterback play? Has anybody particularly impressed or disappointed you?

Mark Story: Well, that’s a great question. I think Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt have been the most eye-opening to me. They’re just waxing people.

I’ve tried not to be hard on Arch Manning because I thought the level of hype around him was kind of ridiculous given how little he had played. And I don’t rule out that he’s going to be a really good player, based again on small sample size. Obviously, he was not the immediate smash sensation that some were portraying or expecting.

The thing that’s been interesting to me about college football this year is a lot of the people that were being touted for the Heisman in the preseason have been pretty so-so. So, that’s kind of opened it wide up, and probably John Mateer, the Oklahoma quarterback, may actually be the Heisman leader as of this point.

(Note: This conversation was held mere hours before the announcement that Mateer would require surgery due to a broken bone in his right hand. Mateer has since undergone successful surgery, and is expected to miss a few games before returning to action for the Sooners.)

This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 11:22 AM.

Caroline Makauskas

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-379-9489

Caroline Makauskas is a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She covers Kentucky women’s basketball and other sports around Central Kentucky. Born and raised in Illinois, Caroline graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Journalism and Radio/Television/Film in May 2020. Support my work with a digital subscription