Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops announced on Monday that the quarterback competition has come to an end with Week 1 of the season on the horizon. Zach Calzada will get the nod in the season opener vs. the Toledo Rockets after beating out Cutter Boley for the starting job.
The Wildcats didn’t bring in the seventh-year veteran to start the season on the bench, and that’s how it ended, though not without a little pressure from the young gun.
Few thought the quarterback battle was close until
Stoops said, “Calzada is in a battle with Cutter Boley” during fall camp.
Now going into his 13th season at Kentucky, Stoops has great confidence in Calzada.
“He’s (Calzada) got a powerful arm. That helps, but I think his experience will play a huge part,” Stoops said during his Monday call-in show. “He’s seen a lot of things. I think I am just excited to go watch him play. He always steps it up a notch in game-like situations and scrimmages, and things of that nature.
“When he’s out there playing, he plays well within himself.”
Coach Stoops gave Calzada great praise and is clearly eager to see what he can do against Toledo on Saturday. Cutter Boley, who was named the QB2 on this week’s depth chart, also heard high praise from the Wildcats’ head coach,
“I think the last 10 days or so, you’ve seen a massive jump in him,” Stoops said of Boley’s performance in fall camp. “That’s kind of what challenged him 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 have seen a different person in him over the last 10 days or so. I really love what I have seen out of him.”
Boley has been at the heels of Calzada towards the back end of camp. Calzada will need to play some of his best football of his career as a Wildcat to boost his team through the SEC with a winning record while also keeping Boley firmly planted on the sideline.
The Wildcats will take on the Toledo Rockets in week 1 at Kroger Field. They will look to start the season 1-0 with a demanding conference schedule looming in the distance.
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