Lane Kiffin lays out incredible brief of Kentucky QB Zach Calzada
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada has been throwing the football for a while. Something like 10 years, if you ask Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
Though Kiffin said this in jest on Wednesday, he’s not too far off. Calzada is a member of the Class of 2019 and made stops at Texas A&M, Auburn and Incarnate Word before landing at Kentucky; he missed the 2020 and 2022 seasons, which is why he has remaining eligibility in the first place.
That long journey now brings Calzada and his Kentucky Wildcats to face Kiffin and the Rebels in Lexington this Saturday. When asked to preview Calzada and Kentucky during the SEC teleconference, he answered with a very Lane Kiffin-esque quote:
“It’s a quarterback that’s thrown for like 9,000 yards, whatever, in his 10th year of playing,” Kiffin said, via On3Sports. “So, it’s a guy who’s won a lot of games, played a lot, throws really well. It’s like college football career like they’ve got Joe Flacco now or something.”
Well, Calzada certainly has Flacco’s longevity. And though it sounds like another exaggeration, Kiffin’s not wrong about the 9,000 yards comment, either.
The Kentucky QB has thrown for 8,745 yards across his college career, including his 85 yards passing against Toledo last week. A good chunk of that yardage – 6,342 yards, to be exact – came while he played at FCS Incarnate Word.
Ole Miss allowed just 69 yards passing from Christian Veilleux and Cameran Brown in Week 1, which means Calzada and Kentucky’s passing game will be challenged heavily – especially concerning for the Wildcats given Calzada’s Week 1 performance against a good, but still very much G5 Toledo squad.
Still, it seems like Kentucky always plays Ole Miss close. The past 4 matchups between the pair have been decided by 3 points or less, and as Kiffin mentioned Wednesday, the Wildcats snuck up on the Rebels and beat them in Oxford last year. Will this year be any different?
Saturday’s game is set to kick off at 3:30 on ABC.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
