Zach Calzada stepped up confidently to the podium, just as one might expect a quarterback entering his seventh year of college football to do, after Kentucky wrapped up its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.
Zach Calzada stepped up confidently to the podium, just as one might expect a quarterback entering his seventh year of college football to do, after Kentucky wrapped up its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.
Even after what was reportedly a very good day for the Wildcats on the offensive side of the ball, there was no hype, no grand predictions, nothing his coaches would want to walk back. Just a veteran signal caller who carried himself with a “been there, done that” vibe.
“I think today the biggest thing was that we needed to focus on our operation,” Calzada said after the scrimmage. “That was our first time operating under the 15-second cut-off through the headsets, so making sure that we were lined up and ready to go, and practicing some of our tempo, staying ahead of the sticks, getting the ball out quick, being tough in the run game. It was good to see us march down the field and score a couple of times.”
“Get the ball in the end zone. Points. Bottom line is we scored some points, and that’s something we know we need to improve on,” UK head coach Mark Stoops said. “Both Zach and Cutter (Boley) played good.”
Calzada joined the Cats this spring after spending the last two years with Incarnate Word at the FCS level. The previous four years were split between Auburn and Texas A&M, giving him 38 career games under his belt with 32 starts.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound native of Buford, Ga., comes to Lexington with 8,707 passing yards and 73 touchdowns on his resume, giving UK hope to turn around an offense that struggled mightily during a 4-8 campaign in 2024.
In order to take advantage of his physical tools, UK needs to play better around Calzada than it did with quarterback Brock Vandagriff a year ago. The Cats have upgraded the offensive line, and early returns suggest they might be getting back to their old standard in the trenches.
“I don’t watch it that much,” Calzada said with a smile. “I’ve got a lot of other stuff to pay attention to. But it’s nice to not have guys in my face all the time. Those guys do a really good job. You can see it on film. They’re fighting every day.
“They take pride in their job.”
Kentucky is also hoping to get better production from its receiver room despite losing its top two starters — Dane Key (Nebraska) and Barion Brown (LSU) to the transfer portal. The Cats may lack in star power entering the season, but Calzada sees many potential impact players to target.
“I really appreciate that whole room,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who we have in there. We do a lot of rotating right now. All of them are coming along.
“I do like to see how the freshmen, (DJ) Miller and (Montavin) Quisenberry, have done a great job showing effort and the fact that they believe they belong in that room. They’re coming in and making their mark.”
Calzada said the receivers are mostly splitting reps at this stage in camp between the 1s and 2s, ensuring that they all get to work with either him or sophomore backup Boley.
“It’s a lot of reps,” he said. “It’s not gonna be just three or four guys that we have out there. All those guys, getting in there and rotating with the 1s and 2s, and getting as many reps as possible. I’m excited for that group.”
Calzada sounds like he’s on the same page with Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan heading into the season.
“I love a lot of the things about our offense,” he said. “I think the run game is gonna set the tone, and as a quarterback, the run game is your best friend, so just being able to let those guys do their thing and manage the game, and when my time comes to take shots and let those receivers make plays down the field, I’ll be ready.”
Category: General Sports
