Former Texas A&M QB Getting Third Chance in SEC

After spending six seasons playing college football, former Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada is taking one more year competing in the SEC, but this time with the Kentucky Wildcats. He spent time at Texas A&M, Auburn, and Incarnate Word before heading to Lexington.

Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops recruited Calzada from Incarnate Word to play his seventh and surely finally season of college football. Stoops had nothing but high compliments to give the veteran at SEC Media Days.

"With Zach, it played a factor that he won and won big games in the SEC," Stoops said. "He has a ton of experience. He has a chip on his shoulder and is excited to come back and prove that. I'm excited about Zach."

Calzada's Texas A&M Career

In his time with Texas A&M, Calzada ended up redshirting in 2019 and didn't see the field in 2020, making his first "real" season of college football in 2021 as a sophomore. In his sophomore campaign, Calzada played in 12 games while making 10 starts, throwing for 2185 yards.

His best performance in Maroon and White came against No. 1 Alabama, in which the Aggies defeated the Tide 41-38 at Kyle Field. Calzada had himself a day, completing 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards, as well as throwing three touchdowns, earning himself SEC Player of the Week honors.

In his two years with Incarnate Word, Calzada lit up the football world as he had arguably his two best college seasons with the Cardinals. Across two seasons in San Antonio, Calzada threw for 6,144 yards, with 53 passing touchdowns as well as 10 rushing touchdowns. In 2024, Calzada had the fifth-most passing yards in the NCAA with 3,791, averaging 270.79 per game.

When Calzada entered the transfer portal for his last year of eligibility, Stoops hopped on him quickly, as he is a veteran quarterback with SEC experience. Stoops shuffled through three quarterbacks last year: Brock Vandagriff, Cutter Boley, and Gavin Wimsatt, who played in 11, eight, and four games, respectively.

With Vandagriff playing his last season of college football last year and Wimsatt transferring out of Kentucky, Stoops needed another quarterback to help lead his offseason alongside redshirt freshman Boley.

Coming off a 4-8 season, including a 1-7 conference record, Stoops certainly needed to make a change to try and improve the next season for the Wildcats. Their one conference win came off an upset win at Ole Miss, in which the Wildcats won 20-17.

The Wildcats will kick off the 2025 season in Lexington against Toledo.