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Lane Kiffin makes hilarious NFL comparison for Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp09/03/25
Mark-Stoops-It-would-have-been-premature-to-replace-Zach-Calzada-with-Cutter-Boley-in-Week-1
Photo via UK Athletics

As Ole Miss heads into its SEC opener against Kentucky, it’s being careful not to read too much into Week 1’s results. Because, frankly, the Rebels might underestimate the Wildcats if they do.

Kentucky was not all that sharp in a 24-16 win over Toledo. The passing game, in particular, struggled.

But coach Lane Kiffin is warning his players to take that result with a gigantic grain of salt. In part because he has a lot of faith in Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada, using an interesting NFL comparison while dropping some dry hilarity into the mix.

“Well I told our guys you can’t base anybody, especially Kentucky, off of what a game before whatever was,” Kiffin said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “They’ve had games before that look like that and then they come out and beat us last year. It was, what, a couple weeks after that South Carolina game up there.”

Kentucky dropped a 31-6 stinker to South Carolina a year ago in Week 2. Just three weeks later it traveled to Ole Miss and knocked off the No. 6 team in the country.

And with Calzada dishing the rock for the Wildcats, Kiffin doesn’t want his guys taking any chances. Calzada can play.

“And also it’s a quarterback that’s thrown for like 9,000 yards, whatever, in his 10th year of playing,” Kiffin said. “So it’s a guy who’s won a lot of games, played a lot, throws really well. It’s like college football career like they’ve got Joe Flacco now or something.”

Calzada has thrown for close to 9,000 yards in a career that has stretched from Texas A&M in 2019, to Auburn, to Incarnate Word and now to Kentucky in 2025. That said, last week was rough.

He went 10-of-23 passing for just 85 yards. He threw no touchdowns and one interception, though he did rush for a touchdown.

But the bottom line? Kiffin wants his guys ready for a savvy veteran who may clean up the mistakes very quickly.

“You can’t bet on because they struggled last week in the passing game that it’s going to be a struggle this week,” he said.