In an offseason of fan discontent, here are 5 reasons for UK football optimism
In what has been an offseason of fan discontent with the Kentucky football program, it seems there is about as much public enthusiasm for the 2025 UK season as there is for undergoing a root canal.
That malaise is what two back-to-back 7-6 letdowns followed by a 4-8 competitive collapse will create.
Yet, after viewing the football Cats at a Wednesday practice that was open to the media, there are at least five things that should generate some hope for Cats backers:
1. Early reviews have been good on the revamped offensive line. A season ago, Kentucky gave up a whopping 35 quarterback sacks and finished No. 114 out of 133 FBS teams in sacks allowed.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats were a pedestrian 81st in the country in rushing, averaging only 145.6 yards a contest.
As a result, UK hit the transfer portal hard in search of offensive linemen. Three of the o-linemen that Kentucky brought in from the portal — tackles Shiyazh Pete and Alex Wollschlaeger and guard Joshua Braun — were running with the first team offense Wednesday.
To my untrained eye, the run blocking looked better in the practice than did the pass protection.
Still, UK coach Mark Stoops vows that Kentucky quarterbacks are going to be better protected in 2025 than they were in 2024.
“There’s most definitely improvement — and there sure better be, right?” Stoops said of the Wildcats’ pass blocking. “There’s some improvement. I feel like there is good (offensive line) depth. So I’m encouraged.”
2. Adding a veteran quarterback with winning SEC experience. There seemed to be mixed reviews, at best, from the Big Blue Nation when UK acquired QB Zach Calzada via the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound super-senior — who will turn 25 on Nov. 8, the day Kentucky plays Florida at Kroger Field — brings some positive attributes.
Calzada spent the past two seasons running the pass-happy attack at Incarnate Word University — the same football program that launched the college career of 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward.
In his first college stop, Calzada put up a solid 2021 season at Texas A&M, throwing for 2,185 yards in 12 games with 17 touchdown throws vs. nine interceptions.
Most memorably from that 2021 campaign, Calzada directed the Aggies to a 41-38 upset of No. 1 Alabama in College Station. Against the Crimson Tide, Calzada completed 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards with three TD throws vs. one pick.
Not only should Calzada’s experience benefit Kentucky on the field, the seventh-year QB should have ample knowledge to share with UK’s presumptive quarterback of the future, redshirt freshman Cutter Boley (who looked good in the practice, by the way).
3. An emerging star at tight end? Since Jacob Tamme and his 56 receptions in 2007 departed Kentucky for the NFL, the Wildcats have subsequently had a tight end catch as many as 30 passes in a season exactly once — C.J. Conrad hauled in 30 catches in 2018.
So it’s hard to have much faith in Kentucky using a tight end as a staple of its passing game.
Nevertheless, sophomore Willie Rodriguez, the former Covington Catholic High School star, might be talented enough to force UK’s hand. The 6-4, 251-pound Rodriguez will bring an intriguing blend of athletic fluidity and muscular force to C.M. Newton Field (and to road games, too).
“Wille’s just tough, a tough guy. I love everything about Willie,” Stoops says.
4. An interesting new defensive line cast. The most jarring thing about Wednesday’s open practice was no longer seeing all the familiar numbers along the Kentucky defensive line.
With Octavius Oxendine (No. 8) and Tre’Vonn Rybka (No. 90) out of eligibility; with Deone Walker (No. 0) in the NFL draft; and with Keeshawn Silver (No. 9) now playing for Southern Cal, the well-known numbers from recent Kentucky seasons are no longer along the Cats’ defensive front.
In their place is an intriguing blend of mostly transfers and/or rising young players from UK’s 2023 and 2024 high school recruiting hauls. Leading the way appears to be Washington State transfer David Gusta, a coveted player in the transfer portal.
“They are, fundamentally, really taking to coaching,” Stoops said of the new d-line. “And I feel like they are playing really hard.”
5. Flipping the TO battle? One reason Kentucky was a bad football team in 2024 was turnover margin. The Wildcats were a horrid minus-7, finishing 109th out of the 133 FBS teams.
One way of turning that around would be to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Says Stoops: “We all know we needed to improve on the edge, get some pass rushers in here.”
Kent State transfer Kam Olds (seven tackles for loss, six sacks last season for the Golden Flashes); Southern Cal transfer Sam Greene (three TFL and a sack in two seasons with the Trojans); and holdover sophomore Steven “Sack ’em” Soles (two TFL, a sack and a QB hurry last season in limited use as a UK true freshman) are being counted on to help Kentucky harass opposing QBs — and force turnovers.
None of this necessarily mitigates what shapes up to be a brutal UK schedule in 2025. But, through the gloom of this offseason, there are some things going on with Kentucky football worthy of some hope.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
