Toledo v Kentucky
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If you thought college football couldn't get any nuttier, this week we had Kentucky's backup quarterback flaunt an untold number of Benjamins in the virtual face of somebody named Garrett. It's a video designed to shut up the haters but instead just cast an odd light on all parties involved, including whoever hatin' Garrett was.

Yes, Kentucky paid around $1.25 million to pull Zach Calzada in the transfer portal from Incarnate Word. It was a decision.

Yes, the 24-year-old Calzada looks ridiculous here. He has no pro football future, so I suppose the optics don't really matter much. He's certainly got plenty of cash on hand for his next step. Hopefully he's set up a Roth IRA and a brokerage account, too.

And yes, fans have somehow gotten worse on social media in an era of rev-share, NIL and sports betting.

There's a lot to unpack.

The video is a content item unto itself. But let's instead examine how we got here in the first place with Kentucky paying seven-figures for a SEC retread who made it two games as the starter before being benched in favor of redshirt freshman Cutter Boley.

Setting the table: Kentucky's 2024 QB room

Kentucky swung and missed on a pair of transfer additions during the 2023 offseason, taking a pair of former blue-chip in Brock Vandagriff from Georgia and Gavin Wimsatt from Rutgers.

Vandagriff, a former five-star recruit, had no starting experience. Wimsatt was an inaccurate, turnover-prone passer in his one season as the starter with the Scarlet Knights.

The Wildcats hoped Vandagriff could continue the strong transfer QB play of Will Levis and Devin Leary before him.

He struggled. Vandagriff threw for 1,93 yards in 11 games, completing 57.3% of his passes and throwing 10 touchdowns against eight interceptions. Injuries hampered Vandagriff throughout much of the year, and he retired at season's end.

If there was a quarterback bright spot amid a 4-8 season for the Wildcats, it was true freshman QB Cutter Boley. His stats (49.1%, two touchdowns and four interceptions) wouldn't wow anyone, but there were flashes of high-level ability from the Lexington native. He sure looked like he could become Kentucky's first home-grown starter since 2020. 

2024-25 QB transfer market drove up prices

Given that Kentucky's 2021 and 2022 quarterback takes transferred out of the program following the 2023 season and the Wildcats did not sign a high school passer during the 2023 cycle, they had to go add an arm to push Boley after Vandagriff medically retired and Wimsatt transferred. 

That quest would not be cheap. The quarterback transfer market exploded last cycle. Several quarterbacks like Darian Mensah (Duke), Carson Beck (Miami) and John Mateer (Oklahoma) cleared the $3 million barrier. That raised the floor for everyone. The market for a SEC starting quarterback climbed to seven figures last winter.

Kentucky ultimately zeroed in on Calzada.

The one-time Texas A&M and Auburn quarterback had a career resurgence at Incarnate Word. He threw for 6,342 yards and 54 touchdowns against 18 interceptions in two seasons. You could argue with it, yeah: Why would a two-time SEC failure suddenly emerge as the answer? But embattled coach Mark Stoops saw a floor-raising safety net, someone who could steadily run offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan's system while Boley continued to grow. And if Boley took the job from Calzada in fall camp? Great. 

What happened instead

Kentucky had mismanaged its quarterback room for years. The high school takes before Boley were busts, and Calzada is an example of what an expensive transfer take can to do a program when it misses.

Here's what (roughly) $1.25 million got Kentucky in two games: 234 yards passing, a 47.2 completion percentage and one interception. Kentucky wisely benched Calzada from there and Boley has been quite good. 

For a program at risk of back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in a decade, it's worth wondering where those Benjamins could have been used on instead. That's three quality SEC starters wrapped up in Calzada's cap hit. Kentucky could have also signed a solid backup QB for around $500,000 and still landed a difference maker somewhere else on the roster. 

If there's a bright spot for Kentucky, Boley is showing big flashes during SEC play. He played well against Georgia, Texas and Tennessee. 

He's a potential building block for the future. 

But during a season when the heat continues to turn up on Mark Stoops, that seven-figure sum paid to Calzada really hampered the Wildcats' 2025 chances -- and that video probably has folks in Lexington wondering what the heck Stoops was thinking.