Mark Stoops is Both Dumbfounded and Impressed by Cutter Boley

Cutter Boley (Vicky Graff Photo)

Quarterback Cutter Boley has not forgotten the slide he made to end a scramble against Texas that was eventually marked just short of a first down in the red zone against Texas. The Cats did not get the first down and eventually lost 16-13 in overtime to Texas.

“That was kind of a big learning lesson for me,” Boley said Saturday after a 42-10 win over Tennessee Tech. “That would have been a big first down in that game, and we needed to get that. So taking (that) into these games right now, when it’s third down, I’m close, I’m not sliding. I’m not giving up that extra two, three yards or however far they mark it back.”

He certainly didn’t slide on UK’s second drive Saturday after he dropped back to pass at the Tennessee Tech 30-yard line. He got pressured and took off running along the sideline. He got loose to pick up the first down easily, but wanted more. However, Tech had two defenders between him and the end zone.

The smart, safe play in a game where UK was a three-touchdown favorite would have been to step out of bounds. Instead, Boley lowered his shoulder at the 5-yard line, knocked the would-be tackle backward, and the second defender unsuccessfully tried to dive at Boley’s legs to stop him. Boley got into the end zone, and UK players and fans went crazy.

“I ain’t ever been so turnt up in a football game before. That boy is crazy. But that just shows you what type of player he is. He’s going to do everything he can for this team. He’s a selfless guy. At that point, you can’t ask much more, especially from a young player like he is,” UK running back Seth McGowan said.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops had a different thought as he watched Boley.

“I was a little bit dumbfounded. And I said, ‘Did he score?’ Then he scored. You know what, that’s fun. You do not want to see that. We were just talking about that, and we gotta teach them how to protect themselves a little bit,” Stoops said.

“Some of that is going to kinda fire up your team.  For him to lower his shoulder and get in the end zone just shows another element to his game and what he’s willing to do for his team.”

Boley completed 18 of 21 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown and completed his first eight passes of the game and his last 10 in another impressive showing for the redshirt freshman as UK won its third straight game. The Cats are now 5-5 with games remaining at Vanderbilt and Louisville.

Stoops knows, though, that the play that resonated with his players was Boley running over a defender.

“It would have been easy to tiptoe out of bounds right there, but he decided to get it in, so good for him,” Stoops said.

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said that type of play by Boley might be understandable in the fourth quarter of a close game. However, taking that risk in the first quarter of an expected blowout win might not be ideal on a regular basis

“Certainly, from a value standpoint, you got to learn to protect yourself. You got to learn when it’s OK to run out of bounds but not take the competitive nature away from him,” Hamdan said.

Boley also hooked up with sophomore Hardley Gilmore for a 45-yard touchdown strike, putting the ball in a tight window.

“Everybody was getting deep, and that dude ended up getting crossed up with the ref that was guarding the under route, and he almost got into that window, but I saw Hardley on the dig route and decided to rip it in there,” Boley said.

Stoops said it was a “predictable pass” on second down and long but Boley made it work.

“Into a pretty strong breeze with defenders all over the place and he threads it and Hardley makes a really nice catch and a great finish but really impressive throw,” Stoops said. “The confidence that he has. We’ve seen a lot of those and maybe they’ve been on the sidelines or over one defender or under another and we’ve seen some exceptional throws.  But over the middle like that, again with a predictable pass with them sinking back and playing coverage, impressive throw.”