In this season of UK football negativity, there are some reasons for optimism
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Quarterback Cutter Boley sparked UK's offense with 240 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- Kentucky's rebuilt offensive line enabled 252 rushing yards and allowed zero sacks.
- Running back Seth McGowan scored 3 TDs, showing depth amid Dante Dowdell's injury.
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Gameday: Kentucky 48, Eastern Michigan 23
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Eastern Michigan football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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The 2025 Kentucky football season is now one-quarter over. Believe it or not, in what has so far been a season of negativity, there are some reasons for Wildcats optimism.
Behind redshirt quarterback Cutter Boley, UK ran its 2025 record to 2-1 with a 48-23 strafing of overmatched Eastern Michigan on Saturday night before a rain-drenched Kroger Field crowd announced at 58,489.
Look, UK has earned the ample fan negativity that has surrounded the Wildcats this season with prior (lack of) performance. When a program has lost eight straight conference home games, has taken an “L” in 14 of its past 16 league home contests and is 3-15 in its past 18 games against power-conference competition overall, things are not going to be all sunshine and delight.
Still, in starting 2025 with two wins against Mid-American Conference foes (Toledo and EMU) and a tough loss to a ranked SEC opponent (Mississippi), Kentucky has shown some signs of hope:
1. Cutter Boley put some big-play capacity into an offense that really needed it. In his second career college start, Boley gave what had been a largely listless UK passing attack some juice.
The Kentucky offense entered the game with Eastern Michigan having produced only four explosive plays of 20 yards or more combined in its first two games. Boley completed four passes of 20 yards or more in the first half against EMU alone.
A former star QB at Lexington Christian Academy, Boley finished 12 of 21 passing for 240 yards and two touchdowns vs. no interceptions.
“I thought he did a really good job for his second start,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “He operated very good. (It) was also good to see Cutter hit some very good passes.”
After two ineffective outings as UK starting QB, veteran Zach Calzada was sidelined by a shoulder injury Saturday night. Some believed that gave Boley, often described by Stoops as Kentucky’s “quarterback of the future,” the chance to make that future arrive now.
Boley said he did not approach Saturday’s start with that mindset.
“ I just stay in the moment,” he said. “I feel like that’s been a big thing for me. It’s just not making things more than they are. Kind of staying to me, staying true to myself.”
Statistically, Eastern Michigan (0-3) is one of the worst defenses in the FBS. So Boley playing well against the Eagles does not mean that will hold true against SEC defenses. Had Boley performed poorly against EMU, however, that would not have boded well for his play against the rugged Southeastern Conference foes that await.
2. The rebuilt Kentucky offensive line has been good. UK ran for 252 yards vs. EMU. Though he had to scramble some, Boley was not sacked one time.
In the offseason, UK added three starters from the transfer portal and shifted starting guard Jager Burton to center. So far, the reviews on the reconstituted Kentucky offensive front are good.
“They’ve done a really nice job,” UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “I think they’ve been (able), really all three games, to control the line of scrimmage. We’ve been able to run the ball well. It always comes down to us being as balanced as we can, and our ability to throw the ball today was a plus to take some pressure off of the run game.”
3. UK has good running backs. Transfers Dante Dowdell (from Nebraska) and Seth McGowan (from New Mexico State after starting at Oklahoma) are doing good things.
A thigh injury limited Dowdell’s role vs. Eastern Michigan, so McGowan stepped up with 104 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Through three games at UK, McGowan has raised his TD production by one in each contest.
“I didn’t care about my performance last week,” McGowan said of his two-touchdown performance vs. Mississippi in UK’s 30-23 loss. “I don’t care about (my) performance this week. Only thing I care about is the win.”
4. Kentucky is using its tight ends in the passing game. For years, Kentucky backers have lamented the lack of consistent utilization of Wildcats tight ends in Kentucky’s air attack.
Senior Josh Kattus was UK’s leading receiver vs. EMU with three catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Willie Rodriguez tied for second with two catches for 28 yards and a TD.
Given that Boley rooms with both tight ends, he felt it was only fair to get each a score.
Asked if that meant he would not have to pay rent this month, Boley joked “Yeah, probably.”
5. David Gusta is performing as advertised. When Kentucky added the interior defensive lineman via the portal from Washington State, it was considered one of the coups of the UK offseason.
Though his counting stats are modest, nose guard Gusta has lived up to his billing. He has consistently been able to get penetration into opposing back fields.
That has added some capacity for disruption that was not there for Kentucky down the stretch of last season’s 4-8 slog. UK was credited with two sacks and three QB hurries Saturday night.
One of the unhappy realities of Kentucky’s 2025 is that the Wildcats can be a substantially improved team from a year ago with no certainty that will be reflected in the Cats’ bottom line.
Still, as UK prepares to embark on a stretch of five straight games vs. ranked foes — three of which will be on the road — the Wildcats have shown some encouraging signs.
