At least for a moment, Utah football fans’ worst fears came true: Utes quarterback Cam Rising in street clothes because of an injury, this time an issue with his throwing hand.
Saturday’s scare came after Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham spent all offseason saying — to Rising and anyone else who would listen — the priority was to protect the team’s starting quarterback.
If Rising is healthy, the Utes have a shot to beat anybody, and winning a Big 12 title would put Utah in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. With Rising’s status unclear after leaving Saturday’s win over Baylor in the first half, things could become more complicated.
So, how does Utah’s head coach — after many pleas for Rising to stay healthy — grade the quarterback’s efforts to protect himself?
Has he done everything he can to avoid unnecessary hits?
“Not everything,” Whittingham said. “But, that’s who he is. He’s so competitive. He’s a fierce competitor. ... We’d like to see him be even more cautious and cognizant of staying out of harm’s way. But, again, it’s hard when you got a guy that’s that competitive.”
Utah’s head coach was also unhappy with the hit that injured seventh-year quarterback Rising for another reason.
Over the weekend, Whittingham watched the replay of the tackle that knocked the Utes quarterback out of the game and said he believed it should have been a penalty.
“If I was the official on that call on that hit, I would’ve called it,” Whittingham said. “It looked like the hit certainly started out legal in bounds. And, as it progressed it looked like there was some arm extension and maybe a little extra shove. I’m not going to complain or whine about it, but, if I was officiating on the spot right there, I would’ve thrown the flag.”
(Rick Bowmer | AP) Utah quarterback Cameron Rising (7) has his fingers wrapped following their NCAA college football game against Baylor, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Salt Lake City.
Rising was avoiding pressure on the play, trying to throw the ball away before running out of bounds with just under two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
His extra effort resulted in Baylor defensive lineman Trevan Ma’ae walloping him into Baylor’s sideline water coolers, which injured two fingers on his right hand and kept him out for the rest of the contest.
It wasn’t the first time Rising has put himself in harm’s way this season.
During Utah’s contest against Southern Utah two weeks ago, Rising absorbed several hits while scrambling late in the second quarter.
“I’m not fired up about it,” Ludwig said last week of Rising taking those hits. “He’s got to hook, slide and protect himself. We always talk about protecting the ball, protect the team and the quarterback.
“We don’t want to lose that position. But the other end of that spectrum would be that he gained a lot of confidence taking those hits and popping back up. But we’re going to try to minimize those. He wants to be here for the long haul. So, I anticipate seeing improvement with that in terms of protecting himself.”
While it’s unclear whether or not Rising will play this week, the early prognosis of his injury seems positive. ESPN 700 reported that the X-rays done on Rising’s hand came back negative. Whittingham did not provide any updates on his status on Monday, but after the win over the Bears he stated Rising’s injury didn’t appear to be serious.
If Rising can’t go, freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson will likely be the starter versus the Aggies. He has struggled in his first two appearances, going a combined 11-of-20 for 104 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
There should be some concerns for Utah’s offense, specifically in the passing game, if Rising misses an extended amount of time.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) as the Utah Utes host the Baylor Bears, NCAA football in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
“Well when Cam is in there, no concerns,” Whittingham said. “Had Cam been able to stay in we would’ve kept throwing the ball, I think the numbers would’ve been about right. When Isaac came in, particularly in the second half, we were just trying to get out of there with the win, just doing our best to protect the football.”
The Utes head coach knows Rising’s importance.
With Rising sidelined the entire year, Utah’s offense ranked second to last in the Pac-12 in 2023, just ahead of an Arizona State team that went 3-9. It’s been the same story in 2024. After Rising and the Utes built up a big first-half lead over Baylor, Utah went scoreless the rest of the way without their starting quarterback in the game.
As No. 12 Utah (2-0) prepares for its contest against Utah State (1-1) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Whittingham, and the rest of the team, have continued to show confidence in Wilson.
“He (Isaac Wilson) has been in a total of one game of college football — one half before last week, one half this past week,” Whittingham said. " I think he’s going to continue to get better. We certainly believe that, and we have a lot of confidence in his development. He just isn’t quite ready to go out and throw the ball 45 times, especially against a team like Baylor. Just with his development, he’s not quite there.”
But Rising is their ticket to the CFP.
At the end of the day, Whittingham knows it. The fans know it. Heck, the entire program knows it.
The Utes can’t do that if he’s in street clothes.