Kentucky Football appears to be losing its starting quarterback for much of the 2025 season to the transfer portal. According to a report from On3 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong and Pete Nakos, Wildcats’ redshirt freshman signal caller Cutter Boley is expected to enter the portal when it opens on Friday.
After playing in 11 of 12 games for Kentucky in 2025, Boley was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. The Wildcats started veteran quarterback Zach Calzada for the first two games, but an injury against Ole Miss in Week 2 sidelined him and paved the way for Boley to step into the starting position. He threw for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions during the season.
Boley’s best game in 2025 came in a home loss against Tennessee. He threw for a career-high 330 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in the 56-34 loss to the Volunteers in Lexington. Boley eclipsed the 200-yard passing mark in six games this season, in games against Eastern Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, and Vanderbilt.
More From RTI: Tennessee Offensive Tackle Entering Transfer Portal After Two Years In Knoxville
The news of Boley’s expectation to enter the portal means that new head coach Will Stein will be in the market for a new quarterback in his first season in Lexington. Kentucky will almost assuredly look for one through the portal, and was even linked to ex-TCU quarterback Josh Hoover by ESPN’s Pete Thamel during College GameDay on Saturday morning.
Unlike the news in December that Florida is losing DJ Lagway to the portal, the Kentucky news directly impacts Tennessee’s 2026 season. The Vols and Wildcats are annual opponents in the new-look SEC scheduling format moving forward, so Tennessee will see Kentucky each year moving forward. Tennessee will host Kentucky on Nov. 7 in Knoxville next season.
