Kentucky is making a big change going into its rivalry game against Louisville.

Freshman quarterback Cutter Boley will get the starting nod at quarterback in the Governor's Cup rivalry clash with the Cardinals, UK head coach Mark Stoops announced Monday.

Boley replaced starter Brock Vandagriff and played the entire second half of last week's 31-14 loss at No. 3 Texas. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 160 yards against the top pass defense in the nation, including completions of 43, 25, 19, and 22 yards and connections with seven different receivers.

It was the first extended playing time against an SEC opponent for the former Lexington Christian standout, who also had scholarship offers from Alabama, Michigan, and Notre Dame, among other top programs.

"I thought he just handled himself very well once again," Stoops said. "I thought he had a lot of poise in the pocket. I thought he distributed the football, had the vision to hit open receivers, the arm strength to get the ball downfield on the second play. You saw a lot of good things.

"Even the play that was called back for a hold (negating a 38-yard gain), an all-out pressure, he gave some ground and threw it to an open area, completed a very difficult pass there. I thought he did some really good things and deserves the opportunity to get a start this week."

The 6-foot-5, 214-pound Boley has now played in three games for the Wildcats and will retain his ability to redshirt even after starting the regular-season finale against Louisville.

He has completed 20 of 38 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two interceptions. One of his two interceptions came last week, a jump ball on UK's final possession of the game long after the outcome had been decided.

Stoops noted that he's seen improvement from Boley on a week-to-week basis and that it seemed like the proverbial "light" had come on late in the season.

"Very serious," the UK boss said. "He wants to be great."

Boley is also a player who seems to have commanded the full respect of his teammates.

"He's got that moxie or swagger or whatever you want to call it," Stoops said. "Whenever he's in there, he's got a strong belief in himself."