By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Zach Calzada is taking a low-key approach going into his debut on Saturday as Kentucky’s starting quarterback.
“I’m excited — just ready for the opportunity,” Calzada said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a while, so I’m just excited to go out and play. We’ve been waiting six, seven months … so just to get back out on the field and play important games that matter to us and a lot of other people is exciting.”
Calzada, a veteran with experience following brief stops at Auburn, Texas A&M, and Incarnate Word, will take the first snap under center in the season opener against Mid-American Conference favorite Toledo at Kroger Field.
“I’ve just got to be Clark Kent until it’s time to be Superman,” said Calzada. “It might be in game one, and it might not be. I’m just playing within the system and doing whatever the team needs me to do.”
Playing within the game plan is what Calzada plans to do against the Rockets. In his debut last season at Incarnate Word, Calzada threw for 205 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 28-7 win over Northern Colorado.
“We just all need to do our job and play within the system,” he said. “Nobody needs to go out and do anything different. We’ve practiced. We’ve prepared. We have a great group of coaches who are going to put us in the best situations, in the best positions to go make plays. I think we just need to do our job, play within the system, run the ball, execute. For me, it’s taking completions, and not trying to do too much.”
Hamdan, now in his second season as offensive coordinator at Kentucky, is taking the same approach from the coaches’ booth.
“We’re sticking to our game plan, the regular plan,” Hamdan said. “Every game, at the quarterback position, you’ve got to pick and choose your battles and pick when to be aggressive and when not to be.”
The Kentucky coaching staff was impressed with Calzada’s track record on the field, but it was Calzada’s personality that made the biggest impression during the recruiting process.
“There’s always a human element to it,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “I think he’s got a contagious personality. When you go through this process in the transfer portal, it’s three, four days and you’re making a critical decision on somebody. There are a lot of people rooting for him. He’s a guy who’s willing to put in the work.
“He’s a guy that wants to be around everybody, that wants to bring people together, and I think we’re fortunate in that regard from the leadership standpoint. We think he has a lot of those qualities.”
Gametracker: Toledo at Kentucky, 12:45 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: UK Radio Network, SEC Network.