Stoops Loves Cutter Boley’s Confidence and Positivity

Cutter Boley found a gap to run for 16 yards and a score against Texas. (Vicky Graff Photo)

It’s obvious the more quarterback Cutter Boley plays, the better he’s getting and he proved that Saturday night when he helped the Kentucky offense amass 371 yards and completed 31 of 39 passes for 258 yards in Saturday’s 16-13 loss to Texas.

“He’s more comfortable in the pocket. He’s been doing a good job of working around there, and even under duress, he’s been delivering the football,” Stoops said Monday about Boley’s profession. “I was very encouraged by the completion percentage. When you can complete 80 percent against that type of defense under duress, that says a lot.

“It’s also encouraging because the receivers are stepping up and playing better as well, and in a better plan, if you will, doing some things to make sure we’re helping them in that area.”

On the UK Radio Network postgame show Boley blamed himself for the Texas loss despite his high passing percentage and also running for 45 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. His 16-yard scoring run tied the game 10-10 and several times he escaped Texas’ pass rush to scramble for positive yards.

Stoops is not worried about Boley’s emotional/mental state going into this Saturday night’s game with rival Tennessee at Kroger Field.

“That’s no issue with him, none at all. We visited yesterday (Sunday) and didn’t at all address that because I don’t need to with him. He’s very positive, he’s very confident. I love that about him very much,” Stoops said.

“That’s to be expected after that game. I heard people talk about that with me, or my demeanor. I was disappointed for the fans, disappointed for our players, and obviously for the program. I mean, that’s important, but again, encouraged with the way we played, and I think all of us feel that way. Whatever we focus on will determine how we feel and what we do.”

Kentucky dropped to 0-4 in SEC play with the loss to Texas but Boley is not going to quit believing in his team.

“It’s just kind of the theme all around. You just can’t cave, you just have to keep fighting, and I feel like there’s a lot of guys on the team that are willing to lay everything on the line to win the game,” Boley said after Saturday’s loss. “I feel like a lot of guys did that tonight, and I just feel for them for coming up short.”

Boley was a bit irritated by questions about his athleticism and ability to scramble out of trouble — or sprint for a 16-yard touchdown run.

“Obviously, I am an athlete. I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t,” Boley said. “I’m definitely not immobile, but I can make plays with my feet, and that’s something this team kind of needs, and I am going to have to keep doing that.”

Stoops has liked the way Boley has conducted two-minute drills the last two games, including one at the end of regulation that led to the game-tying field goal to force overtime.

“Just his instincts. Like the drive at the end of the game when he scrambled, things like that. Off-schedule, not perfect, very good defense. What was there he took, made a quick decision, got us started there. He’s made good decisions,” Stoops said.

“I think offensively, we’ve had decent protection, good drive starters, and even though he was off-schedule there, he made a good play. He’s just been operating. In practice it’s been that way. Bush has been really hard on him on quick decisions and being decisive and, as you know the people we’re playing, the D-Linemen they have, they can harass you in a hurry. So I think it’s been making good, quick decisions.”

Boley said his focus was on completions and moving the chains on the game-tying drive.

“I tried to get the ball on the edge, but obviously, the defense has to be prepared for that. Can’t let the ball go in the air, especially when we don’t have any timeouts,” Boley said. “I feel like we did a good job getting first downs and getting a tempo and getting the ball, and we gave Jacob (Kauwe) an opportunity to bag a field goal.”