Mark Stoops explains how Zach Calzada won QB1 job -- but 'just a matter of when' for Cutter Boley

The news broke early Monday morning a decision had been made on Kentucky’s starting quarterback job, confirmed shortly after in the official pre-Toledo depth chart: Zach Calzada was the guy. Really, that’s been the expectation from the very beginning — you don’t bring in a seventh-year veteran to sit the bench, after all, certainly not one with prior SEC experience. No one thought anything of it until Mark Stoops turned heads by saying “he’s in a battle with Cutter Boley” for QB1 less than two weeks before kickoff.

At the time, he said Calzada was a “big guy” who “can make all the throws.” As for Boley, he’s “the future of this program.”

When asked about the back-and-forth at quarterback at his first game week press conference on Monday, Stoops made it clear the battle “wasn’t what Zach wasn’t doing,” but rather “it was Cutter really playing well.” What confirmed the original thinking that the Incarnate Word transfer should get the nod in week one? His poise in live action, stepping up when competition increased.

“He’s got a very strong arm, that helps. But I think experience is a big deal. He’s been around, he’s seen a lot of things,” Stoops said during his call-in radio show Monday evening. “I think I’m excited to just go watch him play. He always steps it up a notch in game-like situations and scrimmages, things of that nature when you’re just out there putting the ball down and playing. He has to play within himself.

“You have to have a good supporting cast. We have to put them in a position to be successful and play good up front, have the balance that we’re looking for and try to keep people off balance. You talk a lot about keys to success, turnover margin is certainly at the top of the list for me. We have to do a better job in that category, both getting takeaways and protecting the football.”

It all adds up, Calzada named Southland Conference Player of the Year in 2024 after leading Incarnate Word to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, throwing for 3,791 yards (No. 5 in FCS) and 35 touchdowns (No. 2 in FCS) with just nine interceptions. He’s the ultimate safety net who has been there and done that, starting his career at Texas A&M (2019-21) before stopping for a cup of coffee at Auburn (2022), missing the entire year after undergoing shoulder surgery.

All of that is just for now, though. Stoops won’t make any promises on Calzada’s future as the starting quarterback, whether it lasts the rest of the season or a single week.

That’s because Cutter Boley is coming. The keys will be his one day, and he’s nipping on QB1’s heels after a phenomenal finish to fall camp. There is no question, as Stoops sees it, that the four-star recruit out of Hodgenville is a future star at Kentucky.

It’s only a matter of when.

“With Cutter, he’s a redshirt freshman. I think the last two weeks, the last 10 days, you’ve just really seen a jump in him,” Stoops said Monday evening. “That’s kind of what I challenged him with halfway through camp. We had a good discussion one day — I think he was just overthinking things and worrying about things outside of his control.

“I’ve seen a different person the last 10 days or two weeks and I really love what I’m seeing out of him.”

He’s taken control and having fun, finally letting that raw talent shine through. The potential is turning into production, the only reason a redshirt freshman could even think to take a seventh-year veteran’s job right before the season.

Boley has simply been worth the hype and deserved serious consideration.

“He has just been very confident. He’s been in command. He’s having more fun, he’s just enjoying being out there, playing and letting the game come to him,” Stoops said. “We’ve all seen his ability — that’s never been in question. I’ve always said that I have a lot of confidence in him.

“It’s just a matter of when he’s going to put it all together. He’s starting to do that, and that excites me.”

It’s Zach Calzada’s time now, but Cutter Boley’s time at Kentucky is coming — likely sooner rather than later.