Murray State game could offer big opportunity for these three Kentucky football freshmen

jon hale

Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:15 a.m.·5 min read

Mark Stoops knows better than to overlook any opponent.

As Kentucky football’s coach so often likes to remind players, fans and reporters, the Wildcats’ margin of error is too thin to assume any victory is safe.

But the reality of this week’s matchup against Murray State is that if Kentucky cannot take care of business easily against a team that is 1-9 at the FCS level and lost its only other game against an FBS opponent 51-0 to Missouri, there really will be an argument that a complete reset of the program is needed.

Any scenario where a host of freshmen are not able to see valuable game reps by the second half will be a major disappointment, even if UK wins. Especially with Kentucky now needing a miracle to reach a bowl and secure the extra practices that come with it, Stoops and company can ill afford a missed opportunity for young players to see the field Saturday.

Playing well against an FCS opponent will not guarantee future success, but those players heading into the offseason off a strong performance could at least offer reassurances that a massive transfer portal class is not needed to make this team competitive in 2025.

Here are three freshmen we’ll have our eye on Saturday.

QB Cutter Boley

Whether or not Brock Vandagriff is healthy enough to start against Murray State, Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan need to find snaps for Boley this weekend.

The former four-star recruit’s only appearance to date came late in the blowout loss to Florida. After barely practicing with the first or second team offense in the lead-up to that game, Boley threw a pick six on his first pass then failed to complete any of his other five attempts in the game.

Stoops, Hamdan and Boley have insisted that performance did nothing to shake the former Lexington Christian Academy star’s confidence, but it would only be human nature to want to flush the memory of that game before the offseason. With Vandagriff working his way back from a head injury, the bye week offered the chance to give Boley plenty of first-team reps to practice the game plan for this week. That preparation combined with the level of competition Kentucky will face should give Boley a soft landing spot to find some success.

“You could go look at him and watch him every day throw routes on air and see the talent,” Stoops said of Boley during the bye week. “And you see seven-on-seven, you see the talent.”

Now it’s time to see that talent translate to success in an actual game.

Quarterback Cutter Boley is in line to make his second appearance for UK versus Murray State.

WR Hardley Gilmore

Gilmore has already appeared in four games since missing the first half of the season with a broken collarbone, but there is no consideration to holding him out the final three games to preserve a redshirt. He’s too valuable a weapon for a Kentucky offense that needs help any way it can get and appears to be too talented a player to count on sticking around in college for five years anyway.

The 6-foot-1, 178-pound Florida native caught one pass in each of Kentucky’s last two games before the bye. If wide receiver Barion Brown is still limited by the rib injury he suffered at Tennessee, Gilmore’s role is guaranteed to expand against Murray State, but even if Brown is 100% Kentucky should find a way to get Gilmore more touches.

UK coaches raved about Gilmore’s performance in spring practice and preseason camp, but the freshman was sidelined during UK’s first preseason scrimmage. Gilmore recently acknowledged needing to shake some rust off after his prolonged absence, but he looks ready to provide a spark now.

Both of Gilmore’s catches went for 20-plus yards. Kentucky has only 26 completions of at least 20 yards all season, and half of those have come from Dane Key. No other UK receiver has more than three catches that long.

Kentucky needs Gilmore now and in the future. Murray State should be his coming out party.

DL Jerod Smith

Kentucky’s 2024 high school signing class was highlighted by multiple blue chip additions in the defensive front seven, but Smith is the only player from that group to already burn his redshirt. While he has appeared in all nine games thus far almost all of his contributions have come on special teams.

The fact that Kentucky coaches were willing to use a year of eligibility for a minor role suggests they know Smith will be done with college football before that extra season comes into play. At 6-foot-4, 273 pounds the Corbin graduate already looks the part, but this offseason will be key in determining if he can be counted on for a featured role in 2025.

Kentucky will definitely lose Tre’vonn Rybka and Octavious Oxendine from its defensive line. Deone Walker will almost certainly leave for the NFL draft, opening another hole in the defensive line rotation next season. The best case scenario for UK’s defensive line is the return of Keeshawn Silver, Kahlil Saunders and Josaih Hayes, but even in that scenario depth will be a major question.

Expect UK to look to the transfer portal for some help, but the need for further additions will be lessened if Smith proves ready for a spot in the rotation. Murray State should offer his biggest opportunity on defense yet.