History Tells Us Kentucky Will Play Two Quarterbacks in 2025

Quarterback competitions dominate headlines during preseason practices. That was not the case for Kentucky until near the end of fall camp.

On the day before the Wildcats flipped the switch to game prep for Toledo, Mark Stoops said at the Louisville Kickoff Luncheon that Zach Calzada is “in a battle” with Cutter Boley.

Has the second-year player from Kentucky progressed enough to catch up with the wily vet? Is this an indictment of Calzada’s performance in fall camp? Was this truly a quarterback battle all along?

After spending 13 years following Mark Stoops, I’d be willing to wager a significant amount of money that this was a slip of the tongue from the Kentucky football head coach. Regardless of intent, it’s irrelevant. Why? Because history tells us that both quarterbacks are going to play a good chunk of snaps for Kentucky this fall.

It was a Rotating Door for Kentucky in 2024

They say if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. The Kentucky offensive coordinator does not subscribe to this theory. A psychologist might say that stems from his time as a backup at Boise State, but I’m not here to be an armchair therapist. Let me just share some of his recent history as a play-caller.

You remember how the 2024 Kentucky football season went. Even when Brock Vandagriff was healthy, Gavin Wimsatt got plenty of run, and it wasn’t exclusively in a running package. It was difficult to decipher exactly how he intended to use the Rutgers transfer. Wimsatt might enter into the game for a few plays in the middle of a drive, or near the goal line, or he might just take the offensive wheel for an entire drive.

Hamdan used Wimsatt to try to create a spark, and fire rarely followed. He appeared in eight games and threw for 287 yards, three touchdowns, and four interceptions on 39 attempts. He also had 49 carries for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Following Wimsatt’s game-sealing pick six at Tennessee, and an injury to Vandagriff, Hamdan let Boley take a swing. The true freshman sank in his debut, going 0-6 with a pick 6 on his first attempt at Florida, before swimming at Texas. His exceptional performance at Texas earned him the starting nod at Louisville, but he took too many hits and oversaw enough turnovers for the sticks to get passed back to Wimsatt in the blowout loss.

Hamdan Rotated Quarterbacks at Boise State

Last year was not an anomaly. At Boise State, Hamdan did not hesitate to change quarterbacks.

Did you watch Arkansas last year? Their starting quarterback was one of only five 3,000-yard passers in the SEC last fall. He also rushed for more than 600 yards and eight touchdowns. The year prior, Taylen Green was splitting snaps at Boise State with redshirt freshman Maddux Madsen.

Green was the undisputed starter for the Broncos at the beginning of the 2023 season. When he struggled with accuracy issues, Hamdan gave Madsen an opportunity to sling it. The two split time until Madsen suffered a season-ending injury in November.

Sticking with One Quarterback isn’t the Norm at Kentucky

Over the last nine Kentucky football seasons, there have only been three in which one quarterback took a majority of the reps, either due to injury or inconsistent play: Stephen Johnson (2017), Will Levis (2021), and Devin Leary (2023).

Stephen Johnson was QB2 until Drew Barker suffered a season-ending injury in 2016. Terry Wilson started in every single game in 2018, but after a poor performance against Vanderbilt, Kentucky gave Gunnar Hoak and Danny Clark a shot at Missouri, one where Wilson had to lead a late-game comeback. The following year, Wilson suffered a season-ending injury, eventually leading to the advent of Bowden Ball. When inconsistent play returned in 2020, Joey Gatewood got his chance to start against Georgia.

Will Levis had an outstanding season with Liam Coen in 2021, but an injury at Ole Miss in 2022 forced Kaiya Sheron to start against South Carolina. A disastrous trick play on the opening snap derailed that gameplan. Devin Leary got the starting nod in every game of the 2023 season, although he did miss a good chunk of the game at Mississippi State with an injury. We don’t have to dive into what happened in 2024 again.

What This Year’s Rotation Could Look Like

Hamdan’s quarterback rotation over the last two seasons as a play-caller featured players with different skillsets. That’s not the case this fall. Calzada and Boley are both mobile, but nobody would consider them “runners.” That does not make the Kentucky offensive coordinator as eager to rotate between the two players.

How Hamdan will determine if and when Boley plays is a question best saved for a Magic 8-Ball. He did not specify who will be the starter on Tuesday, even though it will most likely be Calzada. But history tells us Boley will have plenty of opportunities to show off his development on Saturdays in 2025.

I asked Adam Luckett, “Over/Under 3.5 games Cutter Boley plays in this fall?” on 11 Personnel, and he’s hammering the over.

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