Cutter Boley, Daveren Rayner Earn SEC Player of the Week Honors
Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley has been named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week and senior linebacker Daveren Rayner was named SEC co-Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.
Boley also won last week for his performance in a win over Auburn and Rayner is sharing his award with Texas A&M linebacker Daymion Sanford.
Kentucky throttled Florida 38-7 on Saturday night, the Cats’ largest margin of victory over the Gators since 1950. It is the first time UK has defeated Florida on-field in Lexington three games in a row since 1950, 1953 and 1955 and the first time UK has defeated Florida four out of five on-field since 1948-52.
Boley, from Hodgenville, Kentucky, completed 18 of 23 pass attempts for 168 yards and two touchdowns, the highest completion percentage in a game for UK (78.3) against Florida since Bill Ransdell was 20-of-23 in 1986.
Boley directed UK to scoring drives on its first four possessions of the game and became the first UK freshman quarterback to defeat Florida since Terry Henry in 1979.
Boley has completed 67.1 percent of his passes this season for 1,544 passing yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
Rayner, from Indianapolis, Indiana, was all over the field in the victory over Florida. He had an interception, pass deflection that resulted in an interception, five tackles and a quarterback sack. His deflection on the first Florida possession of the game was intercepted by teammate Ty Bryant and led to a UK field goal. He added his own interception in the second quarter. Rayner has a career-long five-game stretch with a tackle for loss.
Rayner is third on the team with 46 total tackles. He has five tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and a pass breakup on the season.
The UK defense allowed just seven points – which came on a short field after a turnover – the fewest vs. Florida in 39 years (3 points in 1986). The team allowed 247 yards total offense, fewest vs. Florida in 10 years; first time UK gave up 247 yards or less to consecutive SEC opponents since 1999.
The Wildcats play host to Tennessee Tech on Saturday for Senior Day. Game time is 1:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network +. Twenty-five seniors will be recognized in a special pregame ceremony.
For ticket information, visit ukathletics.com.
