Dennis Johnson believes Cutter Boley needs 'keys to the offense -- win, lose or draw'

If there is one person who knows what it’s like to be a blue-chip talent from Kentucky, leaned on as a star for the Wildcats on the football field, it’s Dennis Johnson. The five-star pass-rusher was named National Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated out of Harrodsburg and went on to become an All-American and All-SEC member in the blue and white, his career something of legend after playing varsity football as a second-grader before a rule change was forced due to his specific situation. They met in the middle by allowing him to play varsity again in the seventh grade — still just 11 years old — and the rest is history.

So trust me when we say Cutter Boley hasn’t seen anything Johnson didn’t as an in-state star, and it’s why we should listen when he says it’s time to hand the keys to the four-star quarterback, no matter what happens the rest of the season.

It’s not that Zach Calzada can’t get the job done or that Boley is head and shoulders above the day-one starter, but if the floor is close enough to have the conversation, you have to push your chips in on the higher ceiling for the greater good of the long-term future.

“Offensively, we had to fix some things there. I met Zach (Calzada), actually, and I like him, but I just think with Cutter, you’ve got more time,” Johnson told KSR on Tuesday. “He’s got a pro-type body and I think he’s gonna throw the ball. He’s not afraid to make a mistake and throw the ball.

“He gives us, long-term, the best chance to have some success.”

Johnson believes in the three-headed monster in the backfield and the Big Blue Wall creating space for those running backs to get their game off, but the passing game has to be effective to make it all work in the meat and potatoes of the SEC. Based on what he’s seen after attending practice dating back to the spring and actual Kentucky games a third of the way through the season, Boley gives him the most confidence to move the football.

That’s from the perspective of a former superstar player and a current high school head coach whose team sits in the top 20 of KSR’s latest rankings.

“We’re going into the belly of the beast, so you gotta be — our run game and the offensive line I love, I love the running back group, but it’s just going to be hard to run for 150 or 175 yards when we get into the heart of SEC play,” Johnson continued. “We’ve got to be able to throw the ball, so I like him.”

The competition was poor, but Kentucky put together its best passing performance in two years against Eastern Michigan, led by Cutter Boley. He completed 12-of-21 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns on 11.4 yards per attempt and 9.2 yards per dropback, enough for Mark Stoops to name him the starter going into the bye week and ahead of the team’s trip to South Carolina on Saturday.

“You just see a guy that’s getting better with every opportunity,” Stoops said of Boley. “He’s getting more confident in the pocket, making better decisions. I just think he understands the offense that much better, so it gives you a lot of optimism moving forward.”

In Johnson’s eyes, that move has to be permanent. It can’t be a short-term decision with Calzada going in and out depending on Boley’s production or struggles, no trickery or nonsense. If you’re going to make this move now, and Stoops has, it has to stay this way the rest of the season.

The team has to know who to rally behind, and the redshirt freshman is that guy.

“Hopefully, they’ve given Cutter the keys to the offense — win, lose or draw. You just got to give it to him and let him go, and then you evaluate at the end of the year,” Johnson told KSR. “I think that’s one thing, he’ll be able to galvanize the guys, get them all together. He’s somebody they can trust to lead the offense.

“Again, if you do that, it’s not going to be perfect, but I think you have to. You can’t go back and forth. I think you’ve got to get some consistency. Offensively, if we can just find a way to ball control, get the ball out quick, make some plays, I think it helps our defense a lot.”

Time to see what the kid can do as QB1.

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Listen to Dennis Johnson’s full interview with KSR below: