Cutter Boley (UK Athletics Photo)
During Kentucky’s bye week, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops noted that true freshman quarterback Cutter Boley got more reps than normal and it “helped” him.
The four-star quarterback from Lexington Christian came in highly touted but watched Brock Vandagriff and Gavin Wimsatt lead an offense that has not been able to produce touchdowns against Southeastern Conference opponents.
Fans have wondered why Stoops did not give Boley a chance to jump start the offense.
“I see a role for Cutter Boley. I think he’s the future. You know what I mean? He’s a very, very talented young man,” Stoops said during his weekly radio show two weeks ago.
Stoops had emphasized the importance of redshirting Boley and not using him in more than four games to make sure he has four years of college eligibility remaining.
“I think it’s important to protect him early here on these games, because you just don’t know sometimes. Somebody could get a high ankle sprain, things can happen, and you can still use them up to four games and preserve his redshirt,” Stoops said during UK’s bye week. “We’ve been calculated with not using them to this point but he’s a very, very talented young man.”
Boley finally got a chance to play in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to Florida. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan confirmed he put Boley into the game without giving him a chance to warm up. Hamdan called a pass play on first down that was picked off and returned for a touchdown.
Boley admitted Tuesday that in a “weird way” that interception took the pressure off.
“That is a throw I will always wish I could get back,” Boley said. “It taught me a lot. The reps I got there were invaluable and already have taught me a lot.”
Boley said his mindset is to “stay ready to go” because an injury could result in him being needed on the field.
“i didn’t know I was going in. I was ready to go but you never know,” Boley said.
Boley did not complete any of the six passes he threw but one thing he did do was throw the ball 15 or more yards past the line of scrimmage on three of his six throws.
Stoops said after the loss that backup quarterback Wimsatt had “gotten plenty of reps” and understood Boley getting a chance to play.
“You’re throwing him right into the wolves’ den there. It’s a tough situation for him, but he can handle it,” Stoops said. “It was hard. Until you get in there and see it, and, obviously, this a very tough place to throw him right in there, but he’s a tough young man, mentally.
“He loves it … We just wanted to get him some reps. It’s hard to simulate all that stuff in practice and there’s nothing that could compare with game reps.”
Some worried if Boley’s first collegiate experience could scar him. I am not one of those. Boley wants to play and is not going to back down because his first experience was not great stat-wise. He’s confident in his ability and if UK is ever going to develop a quarterback again instead of living in the transfer portal, it needs to start with him.
Count me as one who would like to see Boley get more opportunities this year — and maybe thought he should have played some earlier. Banking a redshirt year sounds great, but in today’s NIL/transfer portal era it seems foolish to worry about what might happen in four years.
13 Responses
I would agree if UK had an OL that could keep him from getting killed. But then again, maybe there are problems between the OL and Vandagriff. Maybe Vandagriff just isn’t mobile enough or quick thinking enough to make it work. Only one way to find out!
I think that’s it. He doesn’t scan the field. He Telegraphs his passes. Brock looks at Dane Key as soon as he hikes the football. I would play each quarterback for a quarter against Murray state. Whoever plays the best would get the starting nod the rest of the way out. If Brock is only playing a little better than Cutter let him get some time. Let Gavin get some more time ad well. Lets see who takes command of the offense. Brock just isn’t getting it done and he looks a nervous wreck all the time.
Gavin should be given a chance to show what he can do, and if that doesn’t work then bring Cutter. IMO this season is compromised and Gavin gives us the best chance to win. I do think Brock does have some processing problems. It appears Stoops has made bad decisions on both the OC and OL coaches..shocker there!!
I agree. He should have never threw him into that fire under the circumstances. He went 0-6 and didn’t even warm up. I’ve never heard of a quarterback going in without warming up at least. They should have seen what Gavin could besides running the ball up the middle and that is all.
If you think back to the beginning of the season, Griff was dropping back and doing his reads because he had time. Currently he is looking for his intended receiver immediately after the snap because he doesn’t have time to make the reads. I have timed it with a stop watch. The O Line is giving him about 1 to 1.5 seconds. It takes 2 to 3 seconds to do all the reads. What bothers me is that the OC has not changed the drop back to a sprint out so the Griff can get his reads in without affecting the play timing. Coach has to work with what he has not with what he wants. Take some pressure off the O Line by getting the D Line thinking sprint out then maybe the O Line can protect a little better.
You are absolutely right!
The easy escape goat is the QB. Thanks for pointing out the “seconds” of protection missing.
I also agree that rolling out away from the pocket needs to be a priority since the pocket is a death trap for any UK QB.
One of the dumbest decisions since Bill Curry started All-American Tim Couch in the Swamp for his very first play after not giving him 1 snap in prior games.
The OC has been far from effective and his split second decision to throw Cutler Boley into the Swamp at a time when FL was knocking UK around like bowling pins is beyond ridiculous. He could have gotten hammered with a concussion based on the play of the OL.
There are serious issues with the coaching staff which has completely unraveled the Bog Blue Wall. Stoops has ZERO knowledge about offense and does not have a clue. For further proof, he re-hired the OL coach who left UK while on a scouting trip.
I still give full support to Vandefgriff. He would be excelling if he had gone anywhere with a half-decent OL.
i think Gavin gives us a better chance to finish the season or at least get more PT. Griff still has not shown to be SEC quality yet but even in times where he is allowed more time to throw his reaction time and release not that quick, and he doesn’t appear to be that accurate. In his defense though, it is hard to connect when we have receivers that can’t get separation and TE’s continue to be confined to witness protection status. Gavin showed little better accuracy with limited ops.
The TEs are in Witness Protection!
That’s an instant classic. Nice one, Mike 👍
Identifying the fraud was a classic, but the fraud had no class.
I am not so sure that Stoops sees a future here at Kentucky. Therefore, he couldn’t care less about the future of our program.
The only future for Stoops at UK is to stay in his early retirement plan where he will get about $2 Million for each win the players can muster up without a major conference coaching staff.
The QB can only be as good as his OL and his receivers. The receivers can only be as good as the QB and how well the OL can hold up until they can get separation. The offense is like the inner workings of an old wind up clock and we have a broken stem, i.e. the OL.
Stoops was absolutely stupid for bringing back a coach that didn’t want to be here to start with. Wolford wasn’t even successful at Alabama with some of the best O linemen in the country. The Alabama fans wanted him gone because they knew where the problem was. Stoops knows where the problem is but his friendship will not let him pull the trigger. The OL is no better today than they were in game 2 and that should tell Stoops all he needs to know. Has Wolford been successful anywhere? He wasn’t even successful the first time he was at UK because he started the downfall of the Big Blue Wall.
Good points Old Fan