The Arizona State Sun Devils are now one week away from entering the 2026 regular season.
Kenny Dillingham is entering the September 5 game against Morgan State with relatively tempered expectations. However, the 36-year old head coach has hope heading into year four.
One of the reasons for hope is in freshly anointed starting quarterback Cutter Boley.
Read more on Dillingham raving on his new starting quarterback following Saturday’s practice below.
Arizona State in Good Hands Under Boley
Dillingham started his post-practice talk with media by officially announcing Boley as Arizona State’s QB1. The fourth-year head coach went into brief detail as to how the Kentucky transfer managed to create separation as well.
Via Jacob Brooks of Sun Devil Source:
“He had a great camp, did a great job taking care of the football… We think Cutter’s the best opportunity for us to go win football games.”
Boley, 21, carried ball security concerns heading into his first spring with the Sun Devils. While he did experience growing pains during spring, he flipped the script in fall camp. The four days spent at Camp Tontozona seemingly put the 6’5″ gunslinger on track to win the role. The week after camp is the one in which Boley almost exclusively took first-team snaps over graduate student Mikey Keene. Now, he is looking to both take care of the ball and be the player trusted with distributing the ball to Arizona State’s exceptional skill position group.
Dillingham also believes that Boley’s ability to reach his ceiling is within reach.
Boley Will Experience Challenges Early in Season
While Arizona State’s ecosystem lends to setting Boley up for success, the early stages of the season are a test for the quarterback.
Arizona State’s second game of the season is against #8 Texas A&M. The Aggies are putting forward one of the best defenses in the entire FBS, and this will be a hostile environment for Boley to manage.
After this, Arizona State is traveling to London, England to play the Kansas Jayhawks. The first two months of the season are accompanied by games against the physical Texas Tech Red Raiders and Brigham Young Cougars as well. This is the ultimate test for the third-year Boley, who is playing at Arizona State for the prospects of developing into an NFL quarterback. It’s also an undeniable moment to re-establish the Sun Devils as a bona-fide Big 12 contender.
For as overlooked as Arizona State is in the Big 12 race, the first two months of the season will be crucial for Boley to display his eye-popping talent.
Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham Speaks on Decision to Start Cutter Boley