‘Punt it and then restart’: How ASU is coaching turnovers out of Cutter Boley’s game

TEMPE — Newly named Arizona State starting quarterback Cutter Boley transferred with quite the glaring “12” sitting in last season’s interceptions column, just three shy of his passing touchdowns total (15) across 10 starts.

It’s not a number that’s completely unheard of — Arizona QB Noah Fifita threw 12 interceptions in 2024, his first year with head coach Brent Brennan — but it naturally became the part of Boley’s game to watch closest as he battled with three other candidates for the starting job.

When head coach Kenny Dillingham named Boley the starter on Saturday, “taking care of the football” was the first thing he praised about the signal-caller.

The Kentucky transfer had many practices this fall without an interception — Wednesday was his first day with two — with well under 10 being a fair estimate for his total over the nearly four-week preseason that included roughly five sessions each week.

Dillingham looked back on the 12 picks and attributed many to situational issues that can be coached up. Five of them were either on third-and-long or fourth down.

“Third down, there is another down after that. It’s called punt,” Dillingham said Saturday. “It’s a pretty fun thing sometimes to just punt it and then restart. Sometimes it’s more of a process to understand when to take chances and when to not. We’ve been coaching him pretty hard on (that).

“If it’s fourth down and you throw a pick 25 yards down the field in the fourth quarter of a game, I’m not going to be too upset. If it’s third-and-8 on our 25 in the first quarter and you scramble out and throw an interception, you just cost us a minimum of three points. That can’t happen.”

Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo have teamed up to get 1.7% and 1.3% interception rate seasons out of Sam Leavitt and a 3.2% season out of Jeff Sims, who previously was as high as 6.4% in a season with identical attempts.

Boley’s interception rate was 4% last season at Kentucky.

“The biggest thing you’re working for in a process like this with a young quarterback … is when that does happen, how do they respond?” Arroyo said Wednesday. “There’s going to be some turnovers, especially when you want to be as aggressive as we are.

“I think he’s done a good job for what we’ve asked. There’s some times we want some things back, a couple today that we got to figure out why and when and then what to do next, and then how to respond to the next play. Just no compound errors.”

How has ASU starting QB Cutter Boley come into his own as a leader?

Boley was one of three newcomers that were late additions to ASU’s Tillman Leadership Council, as voted by his teammates while at Camp T.

Backup quarterback Mikey Keene and senior linebacker Owen Long, who led the FBS with 151 tackles last season, were the other two. Safety Lyrik Rawls was previously the only newcomer on the council that helps Dillingham keep things running on a week-to-week basis.

The head coach said that type of peer recognition can be a big confidence boost while highlighting the positivity that Boley brings.

“He’s positive, he’s charismatic, he takes the blame. He’s very, you know, ‘It’s my fault, on me,'” Dillingham said. “I would just say it’s very humble with a positive vibe and charismatic. There’s a bunch of ways you can lead people. There’s not a right way, there’s not a wrong way. There’s just your way.”

There are six returning Sun Devils on the Tillman Leadership Council, the first three of which are the rare case in 2026 of seniors who are entering their fourth season at the same school:

• DL C.J. Fite
• RB Kyson Brown
• DB Montana Warren
• LB Zyrus Fiaseu
• TE Khamari Anderson
• RT Jalen Klemm

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