Tag: Kentucky

Kentucky Wildcat quarterback Zach Calzada throws during practice on Friday, August 1, 2025.

Kentucky seeks turnaround season with Zach Calzada at QB; Toledo up first

Posted on | by Field Level Media

All eyes will be on graduate transfer Zach Calzada in Kentucky’s season opener against Toledo on Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.

A seventh-year senior, Calzada won a camp competition with redshirt freshman Cutter Boley to earn the starting quarterback role for the Wildcats.

“I’d say the last 10 days, (Calzada) just seemed so much more comfortable, so much more confident and played at a higher level (than Boley),” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.

After stints at Texas A&M (2019-21) and Auburn (2022), Calzada recorded two prolific seasons at Incarnate Word (2023-24). He finished No. 2 in the FCS last season in passing touchdowns (35) and No. 5 in passing yards (3,744).

Boley played in four games last season for Kentucky, completing just 49.1 percent of his passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions.

Those numbers weren’t the best, and neither are these: The Wildcats limped to a 4-8 record overall and a 1-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play.

“If we want to change the (negative) narrative (around Kentucky football), then we have to go play well, and our performance will dictate what’s said about us,” Stoops said.

As for the Rockets, they were picked to finish first in the Mid-American Conference by the league’s coaches. That said, Toledo coach Jason Candle knows his team will have a fight on its hands Saturday.

“Going on the road in the SEC is another set of challenges,” Candle said. “Really happy with our team, going through camp and where were at and what we’re looking ahead to. I think it will be a great game for us, a great measuring stick to see where we’re at.”

Toledo fared well last season, posting an 8-5 record overall (4-4 in MAC) following a 48-46, six-overtime victory over Pitt in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.

Rockets quarterback Tucker Gleason threw for 351 yards with three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in that game. He passed for 2,793 yards with 31 total scores (24 passing, seven rushing) last season and has standout wide receivers Junior Vandeross III and All-MAC transfer Trayvon Rudolph from Northern Illinois as targets.

An intriguing aspect to Saturday’s game will be the presence of former Kentucky running back Chip Trayanum on the Toledo sideline. The 5-foot-11, 227-pound Trayanum transferred from Ohio State to the Wildcats last season and was projected for a big workload, but injuries limited him to three games.

–Field Level Media

Kentucky Wildcat quarterback Zach Calzada throws during practice on Friday, August 1, 2025.

Report: Kentucky naming transfer Zach Calzada QB1

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Kentucky is naming transfer Zach Calzada as its starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener against Toledo, ESPN reported Monday.

The former Texas A&M (2019-21), Auburn (2022) and Incarnate Word (2023-24) signal-caller won a camp competition with redshirt freshman Cutter Boley.

Calzada finished No. 2 in the FCS last season in passing touchdowns (35) and No. 5 in passing yards (3,744).

For Calzada, now a seventh-year grad student, his career totals include 8,660 yards and 73 touchdowns through the air and 380 yards and 11 scores on the ground.

Calzada’s career highlight came on Oct. 9, 2021 when he passed for 285 yards and three touchdowns in Texas A&M’s 41-38 upset of No. 1 Alabama and quarterback Bryce Young.

–Field Level Media

Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Alex Afari Jr. (3) celebrates during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky LB Alex Afari Jr. chasing neighbor in multi-continent football pursuit

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Kentucky can thank former Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson for helping unearth versatile gem Alex Afari Jr., a self-made success as a high school cornerback now starring in the middle of the Wildcats defense.

Johnson is headed to training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers this month, a path Afari would like to follow after the childhood neighbors learned to compete against each other as 8-year-olds in their Ohio backyards.

Entering his senior season with 21 starts in 38 games in Lexington, Afari’s path to this point was anything but predictable. He was born in Italy, moved to Ghana for four years and it was in that African nation he first learned what he was told was football, the game with a round ball going by a different name in the United States.

When he moved to Ohio with his family at the age of 8, Johnson and his grandfather offered to introduce Afari to American football. Johnson’s grandfather signed him up to play and shuttled him to the first practice, Afari recalled Thursday at SEC Media Days.

“First day of practice, they put a helmet on me and some shoulder pads. I said, ‘this is not what I signed up for,’” Afari said. “But he didn’t let me quit. He let me stay with it. Just blessed to be here now.”

Afari, a 227-pounder who played cornerback in high school and his first two seasons in Lexington, was an inside linebacker last season. He finished third on the team in tackles and wowed with a 10-tackle game against Tennessee and during a career night against Florida with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

“He’s had a great career. We actually recruited him as a cornerback,” Kentucky’s Mark Stoops said Thursday. “Grew into a safety, then became a hybrid. Last year moved to inside linebacker. Just picked it up in a big way. Is a great leader and person for us.”

Afari said he picked up the new game over time, improving by bringing down Johnson in their backyard football games. Johnson, drafted 83rd overall in April, forced a total of 78 missed tackles and gained more than 1,000 rushing yards after initial contact at Iowa.

Completing a tackle of Johnson wasn’t exactly remedial football, especially for someone brand new to the game.

“I wouldn’t say natural. I started really becoming good at football in seventh grade. It took me some time,” Afari recalled Thursday, adding he wasn’t clear on the rules when he began picking up the game. “I just learned off the fly. Kaleb Johnson’s grandpa brought me to the football field every day with him. We were just practicing out in the backyard.”

Afari said he can’t find jollof rice — a traditional dish with tomatoes and chiles common in West Africa, where his parents were born — in Lexington but the summer humidity and high seasonal temperatures are well shy of the oven he experienced in Ghana for nearly four years.

While he now understands the tabulation for placement kicks worth either one or three points in American football, Afari continues pushing for the next step in his journey. He wants to continue growing as a prospect and have a chance to prove he can still bring down his old backyard buddy in the NFL.

“I got stronger in the weight room. I got way stronger, way more explosive. I feel it’s going to translate on the field,” he said. “I feel like the strength coach has done a great job with all our players, changing our bodies, making us stronger and more explosive and faster.”

–Field Level Media

Buffalo Bills Maxwell Hairston jogs to another area of the field during voluntary workout at their practice facility on May 27, 2025.

Bills No. 1 pick Maxwell Hairston named in lawsuit

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Buffalo Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her in 2021 when he was an early enrollee at Kentucky.

Hairston, 21, was the Bills’ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft in April, taken No. 30 overall.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The unidentified woman also accuses Hairston of intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages.

According to the filing, which was reviewed by USA Today, the woman alleges that Hairston unexpectedly showed up at her dorm room on March 24, 2021. He told her he wanted to “hang out” with her, and the woman said she was tired and didn’t want a visitor. She said she was going to bed and walked away from the door.

Per USA Today, the woman claims in the lawsuit that Hairston followed her into her bedroom, then forced himself upon her and sexually assaulted her after she rejected his requests to have sex.

“Our client showed remarkable strength in coming forward, and we are proud to stand with her in pursuit of accountability and justice,” said Peter Flowers, one of the women’s attorneys, according to the report. “No one — regardless of their status or athletic success — is above the law.”

Before the draft, the Bills were aware of the allegations made by the woman, who had filed a report with the university.

“He’s an impeccable kid. We did a lot of research,” general manager Brandon Beane said the day after the draft. “I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school. He even volunteered to do a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying that this actually happened, to what the accusation was.

“You can’t just take someone’s account and think that’s the truth. But yes, we fully investigated that. If there was anything to that, he wouldn’t have been invited to the combine. … Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we’ve done, I would say this is a heck of a young man, every person you ask. That’s unfortunate when things like that are attached to someone’s name; in this case, it doesn’t seem to be anything there.”

–Field Level Media

Team Brutus offensive tackle Ben Christman (71) during the Ohio State Buckeyes football spring game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, April 17, 2021.

UNLV OL Ben Christman died of heart issues

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The death of UNLV offensive lineman Ben Christman was caused by a heart condition, the coroner’s office in Clark County, Nev., said.

Christman was found dead in his off-campus apartment on Feb. 11, the day before his 22nd birthday. The coroner’s report said Christman died of cardiac arrhythmia, which is an irregular heartbeat, and cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle.

Christman had complained of chest pains during practice the day before and had an EKG. The team’s cardiologist said nothing abnormal was apparent, per media reports.

His body was discovered by teammates who went to his apartment when Christman didn’t show up for practice.

A native of the Akron, Ohio, area, Christman spent two seasons with Ohio State, redshirting in 2021 and playing in one game the following season.

He transferred to Kentucky and played 12 games in 2024, then intended to play his final season at UNLV.

When Christman was in high school at Revere High School in Richfield, Ohio, 247Sports listed the 6-foot-6 lineman as a four-star prospect in the 2021 class.

–Field Level Media

Ohio State Buckeyes offensive lineman Ben Christman (71) runs beside Ryan Smith (60) during football training camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021.

UNLV OL Ben Christman dies at age 21

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UNLV senior offensive lineman Ben Christman, a recent transfer who played at Ohio State and Kentucky, has died. He was 21.

UNLV said Christman was found dead in an off-campus apartment on Tuesday morning. The university said it had no further details, and that the Clark County Coroner’s Office would determine a cause of death.

“Our team’s heart is broken to hear of Ben’s passing,” UNLV football coach Dan Mullen said in a statement from the university. “Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates. Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed.”

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Christman graduated from Kentucky in December with a degree in communications. He appeared in all 12 games last season on special teams for the Wildcats.

Christman, a native of Akron, Ohio, enrolled at Ohio State, redshirted in 2021 and played one game in 2022. He transferred to Kentucky in the spring of 2023 and missed the entire season due to knee injury. He was the top-ranked offensive lineman in Ohio as a four-star prospect out of Revere High School in Richfield.

UNLV director of athletics Erick Harper said counseling services are being provided.

“There is little that can be said to lessen the pain of suddenly losing a member of our university family at such a young age, and my heart breaks for all who knew and loved him,” UNLV president Keith E. Whitfield said in a statement. “On behalf of UNLV, our sincere condolences are with Ben’s family, friends, loved ones, and teammates during this very difficult time.”

–Field Level Media

Nov 2, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27) takes down Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff (12) during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Angelina Alcantar/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Report: Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff retires from football

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Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff is retiring from football with one season of eligibility left, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported Sunday.

The publication said the school confirmed Vandagriff’s retirement.

Vandagriff didn’t play in the Wildcats’ season finale against Louisville. He passed for 1,593 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 11 games this season.

Kentucky has added former Incarnate Word signal-caller Zach Calzada out of the transfer portal since the end of the season. Calzada also was the starting quarterback in 2021 for Texas A&M and the 2025 season will be his seventh as a college player.

Vandagriff was a five-star recruit in the 2021 class who initially committed to Oklahoma before flipping and choosing Georgia. However, he didn’t get much playing time in three seasons with the Bulldogs with Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck ahead of him. He chose to transfer following the 2023 season.

This season, Vandagriff was benched on two occasions and only topped 200 passing yards twice. He had a good chance at a third 200-yard outing on Nov. 2 when he had 123 midway through the third quarter before getting knocked out of the 28-18 loss to then-No. 7 Tennessee due to a concussion.

Cutter Boley started the 41-14 loss to Louisville. Another quarterback, Gavin Wimsatt, entered the transfer portal after throwing four interceptions in 39 attempts this season.

–Field Level Media

Nov 30, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Isaac Brown (25) runs the ball against Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Alex Afari Jr. (3) during the first quarter at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Louisville ends losing streak to Kentucky in blowout fashion

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Louisville’s Issac Brown ran for a season-high 178 yards and also scored twice, and Duke Watson added 104 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries to lead the visiting Cardinals to a 41-14 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington on Saturday.

Thanks to the freshmen running back tandem and a defense that forced five turnovers, the Cardinals (8-4) scored their first triumph in the Governor’s Cup rivalry since 2017.

Louisville jumped out to a 20-0 lead and outgained the Wildcats 241-61 through the first 25 minutes.

In all, the Cardinals racked up 486 yards on offense, including a season-high 358 yards on the ground behind the explosiveness of Watson, whose scores went for 58 and 24 yards, and Brown, who ran 26 times and capped off the scoring a with a 67-yard jaunt with 9:01 left in the game.

Brown, who also added a 1-yard score, became the first Louisville freshman to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, breaking Lamar Jackson’s record of 960 in 2015.

The Wildcats (4-8) finished with 328 yards on offense, but they failed to convert any of their nine third downs. The defense gave up a season-high in yards to Louisville’s rushing attack.

Freshman Cutter Boley struggled in his first start at quarterback for the Wildcats. He completed just one of his first seven passes for just 9 yards and an interception, which led to Brock Travelstead’s 20-yard field goal. The lone Wildcats’ drive that reached the red zone with Boley at quarterback ended in his second pick of the game.

Boley left the game in the third quarter after receiving a hit to the helmet. Gavin Wimsett replaced him and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Mori Macklin to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 9:22 left in the quarter.

Kentucky’s defense then held Louisville on the ensuing drive, but Jamarion Wilcox fumbled on the Wildcats’ next offensive play. Defensive lineman Ramon Puryear scooped up the loose ball and returned it for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 27-7 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.

Boley finished completing just 6-of-15 passes for 48 yards. Wimsatt went 4-of-9 for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Macklin finished with 121 yards and both scores on three catches.

–Field Level Media

Nov 23, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Cutter Boley during the second half against the Texas Longhorns Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Kentucky embraces chance to close by serving ‘L’ to Louisville

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The Kentucky Wildcats end their season Saturday but before they go, a chance to extend their dominance over archrival Louisville in the annual edition of the Governor’s Cup game in Lexington.

The Wildcats (4-7) lost 31-14 at No. 3 Texas last Saturday to ensure their first season without a bowl game since 2015, which was also their last full regular season with a losing record. They have won five straight against the Cardinals (7-4) dating back to the 2017 season.

With an eye to the future, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops plans to feature true freshman Cutter Boley in a start at quarterback for the Wildcats. The in-state recruit has played in relief in three games this season, including the last two.

Against the Longhorns last Saturday, he completed 10-of-18 passes for 160 yards and threw an interception.

“We’ve made it a conscious effort to get Cutter some (first-team) reps the past couple weeks and get him time in practice during that bye week to get him prepped and ready for it,” Stoops said. “And ever since the bye week, I think you’ve seen him go out there and execute at a higher level.”

The Cardinals (7-4) will play in a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season, but coach Jeff Brohm said in his weekly press conference Monday that it’s important to finish the season on a strong note. Last year, Louisville led by 10 points late in the third quarter but fell 38-31 after Ray Davis ran for a 37-yard touchdown with 1:02 left in the game.

“If you don’t win it, man, it puts a sour taste in your mouth, and we had that feeling last year,” Brohm said. “It’s a bad taste. It stays there for a long time.”

Brohm’s team ranks 15th nationally in total offense, averaging 453 yards per game and will face a Kentucky squad yielding just 332.7, 37th among FBS teams.

Ja’Corey Brooks leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 1,013 receiving yards on 61 catches and nine touchdowns for Louisville. Isaac Brown has 896 rushing yards and nine scores. His 7.4 yards per carry leads the ACC and is third nationally. He needs just 65 yards to break Lamar Jackson’s team record for rushing yards as a freshman.

–Field Level Media

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) passes the ball against Kentucky Wildcats in the first quarter during the first half of an NCAA college football game at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas, Saturday, Nov 24, 2024.

Hobbled Quinn Ewers leads No. 3 Texas past Kentucky

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Quinn Ewers passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns while playing the final two and a half quarters with a gimpy right leg as No. 3 Texas handled Kentucky 31-14 on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference dustup in Austin, Texas.

The Longhorns (10-1, 6-1 SEC) survived despite fumbling six times (they lost two of those) including one that was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter to give Kentucky some hope.

Quintrevion Wisner rushed for 158 yards on 26 carries that includes a 1-yard scoring dive off right guard with 3:10 to play, That rush culminated an 86-yard, 15-play drive (all runs) that consumed 8:22 of the fourth quarter and iced the win for the Longhorns.

Jaydon Blue added 96 yards and a TD and Matthew Golden caught seven passed for 86 yards for Texas.

Cutter Boley, who entered at quarterback for the Wildcats (4-7, 1-7 SEC) to start the second half in favor of starter Brock Vandagriff, passed for 160 yards. Kentucky amassed just 232 yards of total offense.

The Longhorns scored on their first possession, driving 75 yards in 11 plays to an Ewers-to-Gunnar Helm 3-yard TD pass on fourth down. Kentucky answered to tie the game with a 4-yard TD pass from Vandagriff to Josh Kattus – also on fourth down – with 11:36 to play in the second quarter.

Texas retook the lead at 14-7 via a 5-yard touchdown run by Blue at the 6:39 mark of the second quarter. The scoring play came one snap after a personal foul penalty by the Wildcats’ Maxwell Hairston on third down kept the Longhorns’ drive alive.

Ewers found Helm again for a 17-yard touchdown connection to expand Texas’ advantage to 21-7 with 3:12 remaining until halftime. The Longhorns’ drive began at the UK 34 after an interception by Jelani McDonald.

Bert Auburn ripped a 49-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the second to push the Longhorns’ lead to 24-7 at the break.

Texas outgained the Wildcats 295-99 over the first two quarters while running twice as many plays and building a near 2-1 edge in time of possession.

The Wildcats missed out on a chance to cut into their deficit when Alex Raynor was wide left on a 33-yard field goal with 3:40 left in the third quarter after a fumble by Blue. But Kentucky’s defense continued to make plays, with Jamon Dumas-Johnson grabbing an Ewers fumble just a minute later and returning it 25 yards for a TD to whittle the Texas lead to 24-14.

–Field Level Media