Kentucky‘s overtime loss to Texas came with a serious silver lining: Cutter Boley had his best game as a Wildcat, throwing for 258 yards on 31/39 overall with 45 rushing yards and a score on the ground. The redshirt freshman took some bad sacks and threw an ugly pick, but outside of a handful of youth-driven errors, the kid showed some real stuff.

His head coach thought he grew up right before our eyes against the toughest defense on the schedule.

“I’m very impressed with Cutter,” Mark Stoops said after the loss. “Very impressed because there was a couple of things early and we were coaching him and talking to him and he’s learning and staying positive and working very hard. The completion percentage, to go 31 of 39, it was impressive. I like to see that.

“We needed our completion percentage to keep on increasing and it’s doing that. He’s a big reason why. I thought he was very comfortable.”

It could’ve been a chance for Boley to pat himself on the back and celebrate the individual win as the future looks bright in Lexington with the Hodgenville native under center. Instead, Boley could only focus on being six inches short on the overtime goal line stand and letting the Longhorns head back to Austin with a win.

“It’s tough, we’re six inches away right there, and it’s tough not to get that done,” he said after the loss. “… It’s just tough when you come up short like that. We should’ve come out of there with the win for sure.”

Don’t confuse his frustration for pessimism, though. Boley is proud of the team’s progress and general trajectory as the puzzle pieces slowly start to come together. No matter the record at 2-4, confidence is high the Wildcats can figure things out before it’s officially too late.

There are still six games to be the team they believe they can be.

“Come back on Monday and take steps,” Boley said. “Everybody believes that confidence ain’t slacked at all. Just postgame, everything like that, everybody still believes. We just gotta keep coming to work and putting in the work. … I think that there’s obviously — a loss sucks, you know what I mean? But I don’t think that fazed anyone’s confidence at all. 

“We know the team we got, we’re in here working every day.”

As for his own growth, he just feels he’s making the plays that come his way and playing within his ability. When the situation calls for a scramble, he’s going to tuck it and go. When he needs to take the layup, he drops it off to move the chains and live to see another day. Need a home run? He’s got that in him, too.

Whatever the coaches need him to do or however the game unfolds, he’s ready to adjust.

“Just trying to execute the play as it’s called. I feel like we came in with a really good plan .I was just throwing it to the open guy,” he said. “… Just taking what they give me, I don’t have to go out there and force things to happen, I don’t have to make crazy plays. I just gotta take what they give me and when I have to make a play, I’ll make a play.

“It just kind of comes naturally, just trying to execute the play that’s called and get it to the open guy.”

The coaches trust him to do that. Now it’s on the coaches to put him in position to succeed — and Boley’s offensive coordinator understands that.

“I think there’s something there with him, for sure,” Bush Hamdan said of Boley. “I think his confidence continues to grow, but we’re falling short. We’re not making those plays. I understand the criticism, it’s warranted, and we gotta get it fixed.”

For the second straight year, Kentucky football found itself in a defensive slugfest that came down to the wire, but once again, the Wildcats fell to Texas, 16-13, in a game that mirrored last season’s heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Georgia.

It was another contest defined by grit, physicality, and missed offensive opportunities. Kentucky’s defense kept the game close from start to finish, holding a powerful Texas offense to just 16 points and forcing multiple key stops. However, the Wildcats’ offense struggled to establish consistency through the air and on the ground, leaving the defense with little margin for error.

The Wildcats tied the game at 10-10 with 12:04 remaining in the fourth quarter after redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley rushed in for a short touchdown. Later, kicker Jacob Kauwe nailed a clutch field goal to make it 13-13 and send the game into overtime, keeping Kentucky’s upset hopes alive, but falling short in overtime, 16-13.

Defensively, Kentucky continued to prove it can hang with anyone in the country. The Wildcats’ front seven were aggressive and disciplined, limiting Texas’ big plays and finishing with 45 tackles for loss and three sacks.

As for the offense, the MVP of the night was redshirt freshman Cutter Boley, who, despite his inexperience and one costly interception, showed poise under pressure. Boley finished 31-of-39 for 258 passing yards, adding 1 rushing touchdown and one interception. His composure and flashes of confidence were encouraging signs for Kentucky’s future.

While the loss stings, Kentucky once again showed that it belongs on the same field as college football’s elite programs. The defense is championship-caliber, but the offense still needs to find its rhythm and something that could make all the difference as the Wildcats continue through SEC play.

Next up, Kentucky looks to regroup and get back in the win column with a key conference matchup next weekend at Kroger Field against Tennessee