After Cam Rising’s late scratch for the University of Utah’s 21-17 win at Washington State on Thursday night, the All-Pac-12 quarterback’s status for Saturday’s visit from Arizona is officially unknown.
Although, coach Kyle Whittingham offered enough tea leaves on Monday morning to have one believe the 12th-ranked Utes will have Rising at their disposal.
“Cam is much further ahead today than he was a week ago today,” Whittingham said during his weekly news conference. “He was on schedule to be the guy (at Washington State), so we’ll have a better answer tomorrow or Wednesday.”
Rising did not speak to reporters Monday after practice, but was seen wearing a sleeve on his left knee. The Utes use Mondays for walk-throughs, which feature much less intensity than other practice days.
Much of the focus in the days since Utah’s trip to Pullman has centered on Rising’s health and the late notice Bryson Barnes received to start a game the Utes had to have.
Rising had a sleeve on his left knee when he met the media on Oct. 17, two days after he threw for a career-high 415 yards against USC. When Rising emerged from the tunnel for warmups at Martin Stadium on Thursday, he again had the sleeve on. He went through full warmups, including taking a snap with the first team offense at the end, only to give way to Barnes.
Whittingham on Monday indicated that Rising was on track to start against the Cougars but suffered a setback on Thursday. While the circumstances surrounding the setback are murky, Whittingham did offer that it occurred before the team arrived at the stadium, not having anything to do with practice during the week.
“It was nothing having to do with anything he did physically, we just had a little setback the day of the game,” Whittingham said. “Cam Rising, as I said before, if he can’t play, he can’t play. He’s one of the more competitive players that’s ever come through here.”
Per Whittingham, Rising did not express any of this before the team arrived for warmups, but he did after he was able to get out on the field and move around.
“We hope so, we certainly hope so,” Whittingham said when asked if he expects Rising to play against the Wildcats.
Rising is just one of several personnel issues Utah is facing as the November stretch run begins.
All-Pac-12 tight end Dalton Kincaid injured his shoulder late in the third quarter on an incomplete pass from Barnes. Two plays later on first-and-goal from the 5, Barnes and Kincaid connected on a touchdown pass off a bubble screen, but Kincaid took a shot to the right shoulder in the process.
His night ended after the touchdown pass as he disappeared to the injury tent. Kincaid could be seen during the fourth quarter on the sideline with his right arm in a sling.
If Kincaid cannot go, Utah is awfully thin at tight end. Thomas Yassmin, Munir McClain, and Logan Kendall have combined to catch six passes this season. Yassmin and Kendall lined up in 12-personnel, meaning one running back and two tight ends, during the fourth quarter at Washington State.
The other big injury situation is running back Micah Bernard, who had been playing banged up for weeks, which reached a tipping point vs. USC. Bernard warmed up and had three carries, but was very limited in what he was able to do.
“He was virtually no practice until just a day or two before the game,” Whittingham said of Bernard. “He was willing to try, wanting to try, and the doctors, it’s not my decision or his decision. First, you have to get cleared by the medical staff, and once that happens, then you decide, and he wanted to give it a shot. It just wasn’t effective.”
R.J. Hubert targeting ejection upheld
R.J. Hubert was ejected in the third quarter for targeting, meaning he is suspended for the first half against Arizona.
A new wrinkle to the targeting rule, as green-lit by the NCAA in April, states that targeting fouls occurring in the second half are eligible for further appeal.
Utah appealed via the Pac-12 submitting a request to the NCAA’s national coordinator of officials.
The appeal was denied, meaning Hubert will indeed be suspended for the first half and Clayton Isbell is likely to get a longer look in Hubert’s spot.
“I disagree with it, I think the NFL has it right,” Whittingham said in terms of the letter of the law being applied to a targeting penalty/ejection. “If you watch tape, which I’m sure some of you might, there’s probably 100 targetings throughout the course of a game. Guys are taking on blocks, blocking people, it’s helmet-to-helmet all over the board, so it’s kind of puzzling how they choose to ignore all the other ones, and focus on the ones where the guys carry the football, it’s all the same 50 to 100 other times.
“I don’t make the rules, I just know, player safety is of course a concern, but football is a dangerous sport, there’s no way around it. I shouldn’t say dangerous, but it’s inherent. It has inherent risks to it.”
In games that have instant replay, when a targeting foul occurs in the second half, the carryover penalty (of sitting out the first half of that player’s next game) will be eligible for further appeal.
The process will begin with a conference submitting a request to the NCAA national coordinator of officials, who would review video of the play. If it is obvious that a player was incorrectly penalized for targeting, the call would be overturned, and the player would be cleared to play in the first half of the next game.
Stanford game placed in six-day hold, Arizona kickoff time set
The Pac-12 on Monday morning announced the Nov. 12 contest between Utah and Stanford has been placed in a six-day hold, alongside Arizona at UCLA, Cal at Oregon State, and Washington at Oregon.
A six-day hold essentially means the networks wanted to see how games over the weekend played out before making a decision. Those kickoff times will be announced Saturday evening or Sunday morning, with the following options, per the Pac-12.
• 5 p.m. on FOX or FS1,
• 5:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks
• 8 or 8:30 p.m. on FOX
• 8 or 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
On Sunday morning, Utah-Arizona was announced as a 5:30 p.m. start on Pac-12 Networks. That game, and a slew of others across the country, were placed in a six-day hold.
In the Pac-12, Oregon-Colorado (1:30 p.m.. ESPN) and UCLA-Arizona State (8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1) were also placed in the six-day window.
Tribune reporter Alex Vejar contributed to this report.
