Cutter Boley is Excelling Under Pressure, Giving BBN a Light at the End of the Tunnel

Quarterbacks get all of the credit from a win and all of the blame from a loss. It’s the nature of the game. Cutter Boley hasn’t been able to take any credit for securing a win over a Power Conference opponent, but he deserves a significant amount of praise for how well he’s performed under such dire circumstances.

The Circumstances

Cutter Boley wasn’t supposed to spend a lot of time on the field this year. Ahead of the season, many expected that he might get a game or two because of an injury, but this wasn’t his team to quarterback. The plan was to let Zach Calzada orchestrate the offense and give the redshirt freshman more time to develop. The funny thing about plans is how quickly they can change.

In the second game of the season, Calzada suffered a shoulder injury that would sideline him for a few weeks. It was Boley’s time to shine.

No. 8 rarely took any snaps with the ones during fall camp. Even though he had a mental grasp of the offense, he didn’t have the feel that could only be learned through game reps. He got one game against Eastern Michigan and a bye week to prepare for his first SEC start, on the road at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Boley’s first pass was a Pick-6 at Florida. In his first start against Louisville, he was sacked twice and threw two interceptions before he was pulled. It was somehow worse against South Carolina. The Gamecocks scored defensive touchdowns on back-to-back plays from Boley. Things looked dire.

Boley Has No Quit

Most would have crumpled, caved. It’s not just that he played poorly. It felt like the fate of the season was riding on the Ole Miss and South Carolina games. Kentucky won neither.

The losses only amplified the intensity surrounding Mark Stoops. The Wildcats looked stagnant. How could Stoops turn it around? On the shoulders of Cutter Boley.

A promising second half of the season with a young quarterback could give Big Blue Nation a reason to believe better days are ahead. After 13 years and more wins than any other coach in Kentucky football history, Stoops’ fate was in the hands of the kid from LaRue County. No pressure.

The light at the end of the tunnel has grown brighter and brighter with each start. He completed a career-high 25 passes against Georgia, and followed it up with a 31-39 outing against Texas’s Top 5 defense, setting a freshman record for completion percentage (79.5%). He also rushed for the Wildcats’ only score, and did stuff like this.

.@cutterBoley keeping the drive alive on his feet 💨

📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/XiWl9XbVAT

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 19, 2025

Elevating the Offense

Boley had 300 yards of total offense against one of the best defenses in the country by completing passes to 12 different wide receivers. When the coaches are asked the key to the wide receivers’ breakout performance, they give Boley credit for putting the ball in the right place while under pressure.

“I think since Cutter’s been involved in what we are trying to do, I feel like those guys have taken it to another level,” Stoops said this week.

Bush Hamdan has slightly altered the scheme to get the ball out of Boley’s hands quickly. It’s injected life into an inadequate offense, giving the group something tangible to build on each week.

The pressure was on Boley to perform at the highest of levels, and despite the difficult circumstances, he’s exceeded early expectations. If he can sustain it, the young quarterback will give Big Blue Nation a reason to believe in these Wildcats once again.