Mark Stoops: It would have been premature to replace Zach Calzada with Cutter Boley in Week 1

Kentucky opened its 2025 campaign on Saturday with a 24-16 win over Toledo in Lexington. It marked Kentucky‘s fifth consecutive win in its season opener, dating back to 2021.

The win showcased the Wildcat debut of quarterback Zach Calzada, who returned to the SEC after spending the last two seasons at Incarnate Word. Calzada was previously at Texas A&M from 2019-21 and Auburn in 2022.

Calzada, who was not sacked, completed just 10/23 passes for 85 yards and one interception. He was 0/8 on 20-yard throws and was just 1/11 on throws that went 10 yards downfield. It’s safe to say that the seventh-year quarterback left a lot to be desired, but Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops shut down any idea of backup Cutter Boley having potentially replaced him in the game.

“I think that’s fair, and it’s something we evaluate all the time,” Stoops said. “We still have a lot of confidence in Zach, and we have confidence in Cutter. It would have been premature to pull the plug right there. I really believe Zach’s going to do very well, and we strongly believe in Cutter. You look at the progression of (Ole Miss QB) Austin Simmons and what he’s going in his third year and, man, he looks good, and you sit there and say in one aspect, he’s inexperienced, but he’s really not.”

Kentucky’s wide receivers combined for just 12 yards receiving

“This is his third year in the system, he stepped in last year, played extremely well against Georgia– they didn’t miss a beat,” Stoops continued. “I had to go back and look, you know what I mean? Like, wait a minute here. And so, we will evaluate those things, both guys are going to get better. And I will say after watching the tape several times, I felt better about it because there are things that we know we could get fixed and he [Zach] will play well.”

Calzada relied heavily on his tight ends, as 74 of his 85 passing yards went to Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez Jr. If the ‘Cats were to have any chance in their home game against Ole Miss on Saturday, getting the wide receivers involved will be crucial. Just three different Kentucky receivers recorded a catch against Toledo (Ja’Mori Maclin, Fred Farrier and Hardley Gilmore IV), combing for a whopping 12 yards.

Although the veteran quarterback struggled, Kentucky‘s run game thrived. Running backs Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan both found the end zone and combined for 207 yards on 32 carries (6.5 YPC). With a rebuilt Big Blue Wall and two proven players in the backfield, pounding the rock may just be the key to success for Kentucky this season (as it was in their 9-3 season in 2018).

Calzada and the ‘Cats will be back in action on Saturday against Ole Miss. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM on ABC.