Cutter Boley believes offense is 'so close' to breakthrough: 'We do have what we need.'

Kentucky‘s offensive attack hasn’t been much of an attack at all this fall, ranked No. 79 in scoring offense (27.0), No. 97 in yards per game (347.0), No. 120 in passing yards (159.0) and No. 124 in passing efficiency. The running backs have been strong and the Wildcats have moved the football against lesser competition, but the power conference numbers continue to be downright putrid.

Looking for a spark, Mark Stoops made a change at quarterback with redshirt freshman Cutter Boley taking over, leading to a strong debut vs. Eastern Michigan, followed by tough performance in his first SEC road start at South Carolina. His coaches remain confident in his future in blue and white, despite ESPN ranking the quarterback room dead last in the sport among Power 4 teams.

“He is very resilient. He has a strong belief in himself. The players believe in him. He has the talent,” Stoops said of Boley. “He’ll continue to work and get better.”

How is QB1 feeling with the dust now settled on the loss at South Carolina, preparing for yet another road trip against tougher competition at No. 12 Georgia? Boley believes the Wildcats are closer to a breakthrough than people realize.

The offense isn’t punting on the season. In fact, they’re confident they have everything they need to be successful right now.

“There are a lot of plays where we had big hits and we had good runs,” Boley said this week. “There were things open on the back end and there were many things that we were just inches away from getting done, inches away from being a big-time play. I think that in itself — not even just a few plays, a lot of plays — is just kinda building some confidence that we do have what we need and we can get done everything we still wanna get done.

“We’re just so close to putting all of this together.”

How can the Wildcats get there if they are, in fact, that close? Film and practice, turning their success in those areas into success against SEC competition.

It’s easier said than done, obviously, but confidence isn’t slipping.

“Just continue to work, continue to watch that film and see what we can get better on,” he said. “There are so many plays where we’re just so close to getting big hits, getting big plays in the pass game, especially to the receivers. And we’re continuing to work on those things, continuing to build on things, and continuing to get better every day.”

His first two starts this season haven’t been perfect, but it certainly hasn’t been wasted time. All experience is good experience, learning from the mistakes and building upon what has gone well — however much that’s been.

If he’s not more prepared for Athens after going to Columbia, what was the point of any of it?

“If I’m not better prepared than I was the game before, I’m doing something wrong,” Boley continued. “I continue to get better every week. I continue to get better after every game. Going back and looking at that film, there are a lot of things I can grow in, a lot of things I can get better at. I just gotta continue to keep growing and keep getting better every week and those days will stack up.”

He’s got his teammates behind him, too. Confidence is contagious. If Boley believes, the guys around him will believe, too.

And they all believe a breakthrough is coming, sooner rather than later.

“Just these guys’ preparation every single day, their work ethic out here at practice,” he said. “Every guy is coming out here striving to get better every single day. No one’s complacent with where they’re at. Everybody’s trying to get better and trying to improve on something every single day. 

“I think all these guys on this team really believe that we’re so close, we’re one step away. If we continue to get better, I know these guys believe we can take that next step.”

The next opportunity is certainly a big one.

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