Cutter Boley treasuring opportunity as ASU’s starter, aiming for perfection in opener

TEMPE — Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley is ready to put offseason work and plays against his own colors behind him, eagerly awaiting the chance to face a different team on Saturday.

The Kentucky transfer said he’s dialing in on a clean operation without mistakes following an offseason that forced him to get on the same page with the ASU coaching staff and new receivers in a hurry.

“A lot of teams come out and Week 1 tends to be the sloppiest, a lot of penalties and a lot of turnovers,” Boley said Tuesday. “We’ve been grinding these last nine weeks to try to perfect our craft and we want to go out there and try to play as close to perfect as we possibly can.

“That’s never possible, but we try to strive for that each and every single day. … Not making silly mistakes and just playing our type of ball.”

Head coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday that the offense has a goal of 90% of their plays being run without any mental hiccups.

“If we have one play where eight guys make a mistake, to me, that’s a coaching error,” Dillingham said. “But I want a 90% success rate — 90% of no penalties, 90% of everybody doing it right.

“If we can create that, we can be efficient. So now if you’re efficient, teams have to challenge you. If teams have to challenge you, you can use your explosiveness when teams challenge you. So the efficiency and explosiveness go hand in hand.”

How clean the operation gets starts with Boley in a lot of ways, especially in starting plays. He’s had a strong pairing with center Tana Alo-Tupuola to this point, making that one area ASU is counting on to look smooth.

Boley said he’s looking to avoid turnovers, which have been a point of emphasis after he had 12 interceptions across 10 starts last season, as Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo have tried to help him recalibrate which risks to take.

“A shot called is not a shot taken,” Boley said. “A shot’s called and you want to force it down the field, you want to make that big play, but you learn to kind of play within the offense and take what the defense gives you. Then when those opportunities show up, they’ll be obvious and they’ll present themselves and you’ll know when to take those chances.”

ASU’s Cutter Boley cherishing being the starter

The quarterback drove home the point that even though he won a position battle where he was the favorite coming in, he’s not taking the opportunity for granted.

“There’s a lot of people that want to play this position,” Boley said. “You got to always think about that and, you know, what am I doing every single day to be one of the best in the country and the best player I can be. I kid of just focus on myself and look inward and try to grow each and every single day.”

He also valued the stamp of approval he got from his teammates when he and veteran backup QB Mikey Keene were added to the Tillman Leadership Council while at Camp T.

“That’s been a big (area of growth) is my leadership and being vocal and being able to take control and take command of the whole offense and this team,” Boley said.

He and the new-look ASU offense make their season debut on Saturday when the Sun Devils host Morgan State at 7 p.m. MST.

Hear it on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.

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