UK’s Big Blue Wall, Cutter Boley striving for ‘cohesiveness’ as season rolls on
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky offensive line leverages 200+ games experience to anchor offense.
- Cutter Boley grows into starter role, completes 31 of 39 passes vs Texas.
- Line and Boley target cohesion to finish drives and salvage season hope.
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In the 2015 Rocky spin-off film “Creed,” long-retired, former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa repeats a mantra for his inexperienced and unpolished protégé, Adonis Creed: “One step at a time. One punch at a time. One round at a time.”
It’s an approach that could serve Kentucky’s offensive line and quarterback Cutter Boley.
On the first Kentucky football drive of an overtime loss last week to Texas, the offense gobbled up 5 minutes and 43 seconds of clock time on an 11-play, 59-yard possession. UK reached the Longhorns’ 16-yard line, and ultimately turned the ball over on downs after a failed fourth-and-short, with nothing to show for what was an early, calculated push for points.
Despite the empty possession, graduate left tackle Josh Braun noted that the line “established physicality early in the game, and we had to lean on it throughout.”
“We didn’t come away with any points,” Braun said. “And so that’s disappointing. I mean, appreciate Coach Stoops putting it in our hands. Fourth and short, he expects the offensive line to go get the first down. And that’s a vote of confidence from the head coach.”
Against the Longhorns, Boley had one of the best performances of his career against what Stoops called “elite competition.” Boley completed 31 of his 39 passing attempts for 258 yards and one interception.
He was sacked five times by the third-ranked defense in the country, but the Wildcats remained competitive with the ranked Longhorns until the end.
Stoops has faith in his veteran offensive line, made up of Jager Burton, Jalen Farmer, Alex Wollschlaeger, Josh Braun and Shiyazh Pete — a heavily relied-upon group of men in their early 20s who don’t get much rest.
Between the five linemen, the ‘Big Blue Wall’ entered the 2025 campaign with more than 200 games’ worth of experience; per UK Athletics, prior to the season opener against Toledo, the line boasted the third-most starts in college football.
“We have been fortunate with that (the five starting offensive linemen),” Stoops said. “We’re working hard, practice has been really good. We’re continuing to develop all those guys. We do feel that we have guys who are ready to win and step up. We will see when that opportunity comes.”
The Wildcats (2-4, 0-4 SEC) aren’t winning meaningful games; their conference home game losing streak extends more than 750 days in the wake of the loss to Texas. Braun said he believes the lack of “cohesiveness across the board” is standing in the way of the offense’s ability to “get into rhythm.”
“Given the way the season’s gone and how it’s been structured, we haven’t really been able to get into rhythm (with the early bye weeks),” Braun said. “And so you’ve seen that we’ve been three games..., two games off, and then last week, and so now we’re gonna finally be able to get into a rhythm with these next six games straight.
“We’re coming together. The offensive line, before this season, hadn’t played a snap together except for Farm and Jag. And I think the cohesiveness across the board is what we’re going to need to, ultimately, when we have drives like that, finish in the end zone.”
Through the first four games of the season, the line — with the assistance of the team’s rushing leader, Seth McGowan — helped the Wildcats rush for 752 yards, a program high since 2018.
Through six games, the Kentucky offense has rushed for 934 total yards; the mark puts UK 10th in SEC rushing yards, with one fewer game played than its 15 conference mates.
Initially expected to protect nearly-25-year-old transfer quarterback Zach Calzada — who left the Week 3 loss to Ole Miss in the fourth quarter after a shoulder injury — the offensive line now stands between opposing defenses and Boley.
Boley, who turned 20 days before the first game of the season, stands to make his fifth start of the year this Saturday against No. 17 Tennessee (5-2, 2-2 SEC).
As opposed to with Calzada, the offensive line has a new responsibility while protecting the redshirt sophomore — helping Boley step into the role of leading the offense.
Braun called Boley both “a talented athlete,” and “a gifted person,” and said he’s enjoyed watching the young quarterback “become more confident in the pocket.”
“For an old guy to see a young guy do that, it’s nice, you know?” Braun said. “ It’s kind of like I’m the grandpa of the offense, I’m 24. …It’s just awesome seeing him progress from when I got here in January to now.”
Despite consecutive road losses, Boley received praise from fans on social media during the Oct. 4 rout at Georgia when — during a third-quarter sequence where the ball wasn’t snapped quickly following a potential turnover missed by the officials — Boley hurried his line and called for Burton to quickly snap the ball; the officials beat the Wildcats to the punch, and the Bulldogs were rewarded possession.
When asked by Big Blue Insider’s Dick Gabriel about whether the moment was “a big step,” for Boley, Braun agreed — and said that leadership continued to show itself against Texas.
“He’s definitely sort of embraced the role as the leader of the offense,” Braun said. “Just with him being so young, it took a couple games for him to get into that mindset. Like I said, he’s a great kid. He doesn’t want to step on anybody’s toes.”
Braun stressed that he and the rest of the line believe in and support Boley — regardless of the decision he makes, “we’re gonna run with him.”
A coach’s son who’s been around football his entire life, Braun recounted a story where a coach in his past once said, “If you’re all wrong, you’re right,” meaning, it doesn’t matter which play a unit is running, so long as everybody’s running the same one.
In an attempt to improve, Boley has spent time with his offensive linemen in meetings and walkthroughs, unafraid to ask questions and better understand offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s plan of attack.
“If we’re all on the same page. we’re going to have success,” Braun said. “And I think when it comes to helping Cutter understand that, we have protection meetings. We have protection walkthroughs every day that he sits in on for about an hour after practice every day, just so that he can see our thought process, and so that when he’s faced with a look that he hasn’t seen before, he knows how we’re going to approach it.”
With that knowledge of the “thought process,” comes an understanding of what Braun called “our rules,” so Boley can apply the rules in game situations and better identify opportunities for positive yardage; it’s yet another part of why Braun believes there is power that comes with “the cohesiveness of the offensive line.”
“As we get further into the season, Cutter’s behind us for more snaps,” Braun said. “He’s going to understand how each of us play…He’s going to know where he can step up into the pocket and he can escape where he can.”
That early lack of understanding, per Braun, creates difficulties on the road. The lights are bright, opposing fans are loud and the defensive line is coming, so Boley will benefit from knowing what his linemen are thinking — because there is zero expectation that they’ll be able to hear one another.
Ahead of his start in the loss at South Carolina, Boley identified the offensive line’s experience and ability to communicate as key reasons why he could elevate under center while overtaking the veteran Calzada on the depth chart.
“I think that’s what’s great about having such a young quarterback back there,” Braun said. “He knows that he doesn’t know everything, and although he doesn’t know everything, he’s still willing to learn and wants to know everything.”
The learning curve requires patience and time, the latter of which is fleeting for a team facing six straight weeks of competition with better overall records, including three road games and two teams currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25.
Though the odds are stacked against the Wildcats, Boley and the offensive line continue to work; and the lessons levied by the “Big Blue Wall” are starting to stick.
Following the loss to Texas, a visibly emotional Boley said that though it’s “tough,” not to come away with a win in a tight contest, he sees his team “taking steps.”
“And everybody believes that,” Boley said. “The confidence ain’t slacked at all, postgame and everything like that, everybody still believes. We’ve just gotta keep coming into work and putting in the work.”
One step at a time. One punch at a time. One round at a time. Even when the chances of reaching bowl eligibility dwindle week by week.
“You can’t get caught up in wins and losses,” Braun said. “Because at the end of the day, it’s two, three plays, the ball bounces a different way, we’re sitting at 5-1. I mean, we’ve got a defense that deserves to be 6-0, 5-1, and we as an offense have to counter that and put them in the positions to be successful.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
