Kentucky is going all in Carter Boley. The quarterback has shown flashes, but if you look closely at the game logs, it's been an up and down roller coaster.
He was outstanding in the second half for Texas, catching 10 passes for 160 yards. When he had more incompletions (9) than completions (6), he was good enough to earn the starting job against Louisville.
The story this season is similar. After scoring 240 yards and two touchdowns against Eastern Michigan, he scored two defensive touchdowns against South Carolina. The next week, Boley caught a career-high 25 passes at Georgia.
While the sample size is small, through 4.5 games, the Kentucky quarterback hasn't consistently taken a step forward. When he seemed to have things pieced together, he would always take a step or two back. For Kentucky to be successful in the second half of 2025, this trend must stop.
kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan Trying to take the pressure off Boley by giving the quarterback easy reads.
“This is as decisive as possible,” Hamdan said Tuesday. “For us, from a coaching standpoint, don't look at it as 1, 2, 3, be wary of people here and if they do it, we're going to do it. Ultimately, get him to the point of 'Where could the ball go? Why are we calling it a play?' If it's not there, just climb up the pocket, get vertical, and take off.”
Hamdan added, “That's the most important thing for him, getting him to play faster from a streamlined process, allowing him to make quick decisions and let his talent shine.”
Hesitation can weaken a young quarterback. There's no time to wait for SEC foes, especially the strength of Texas' defense. Boly had to get rid of the ball quickly or the Cats could be trapped behind the chains.
“(Hamdan) promotes planning,” Boley said. “It's kind of like knowing my scheme perfectly and not questioning myself and not taking the ball and letting it rip. Trusting my eyes, trusting my feet and just going out there and letting it rip.”
Confidence is the key to Boli
In order to make decisions quickly, people must be confident that they have made the right decision. Boley played pretty well at Texas last year. Will Saturday help?
“There's confidence there, but I think there's only confidence if he continues to get better week in and week out,” Hamdan said.
Similar to his coach, Boly blunted the impact of his performance. “It's definitely been a good learning experience this year and stuff like that. I definitely watched some clips from last year and looked at it as a total learning experience.”
Boley learned a hard lesson during the past two weeks on the road. These are more important than what happened in Austin 11 months ago. Hopefully those lessons will pay off Saturday night at Kroger Field.