Utah quarterback Cam Rising says he’s ‘planning’ on starting Week 1 vs. Florida

The biggest names in Pac-12 football will be in Las Vegas this week for the conference’s media day — and there will be plenty of questions to answer.

When will commissioner George Kliavkoff have a new media deal in place? Can the Pac-12 get back to 12 teams?

How about this one for Utah football fans: Will Cam Rising be ready to start for the Utes when the Florida Gators come to Salt Lake City on Aug. 31?

Rising is scheduled to be one of Utah’s representatives in Vegas and will have the chance to answer questions about his repaired anterior cruciate ligament. But the senior quarterback said recently he expects to be ready for Week 1.

“Yeah, so that’s what I’m planning on doing and everything, rehab, is going going accordingly,” Rising told ESPN 700 host Bill Riley recently. “Just got to keep it going. Everything is going well there.”

Rising said he’s been “rehabbing like crazy” and that his doctors have said “everything’s looking good.”

The 24-year-old Rising said he expected to know more by the time he touched down in Vegas, though.

“I’m actually gonna do a little test on my knee [this] week and that’ll help me know a lot more where I’m at,” the quarterback told ESPN 700. “I’m looking forward to that but everything right now is where it needs to be.”

Rising threw for 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns last season to lead the Utes to a second-straight Pac-12 championship. After tearing his ACL during the team’s Rose Bowl defeat to Penn State in January, the QB’s health will be paramount in the Utes’ hopes to win a third straight conference title.

“I think we have to have the same mentality that we did last year,” Rising said. “We are not the hunted, we are the hunters. We got to go out there and get it. This trophy is not ours just because we won the last two.”