Cam Rising’s fingers might be in a cast.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham’s fingers are crossed that his senior quarterback might be able to play this weekend at Arizona State.
Rising has reportedly been a game-time decision for the last two weeks, but he has not played since Sept. 7. And as he did for most of last season, Whittingham has kept Rising’s true status under wraps.
That won’t change until the Big 12 or NCAA’s rules do.
“Since there is no mandate, why would you tip your hand in any way, shape or form with injuries?” Whittingham said Monday. “It doesn’t make any sense to give the opponent any more knowledge than they have. That’s the only reason behind my approach. There’s no other reason other than a competitive advantage. Even though it might be just a slight advantage, it’s still an advantage.”
The SEC and the Big Ten currently require injury reports from each team three days before a contest and 90 minutes before kickoff. The Big 12, currently, does not have any provision like that in place.
Whittingham said he would be in favor of a rule regarding injury reports.
In the meantime, however, there will be more pain for Utah fans who have voiced frustrations about Whittingham’s lack of transparency and, inevitably, more questions surrounding Rising’s injury status.
Here’s what the veteran coach would say about his quarterback’s status:
“He has followed all the recommendations from the doctors, and we’ll see what happens this week,” Whittingham said. “But there’s a chance [he’ll play], I can tell you that. It’s still early in the week, but we’re crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.”
It’s been a month since Rising injured two fingers on his throwing hand while being tackled into a water cooler on the sideline while trying to extend a play against Baylor.
Rising has warmed up with a glove on his throwing hand before Utah’s last two games. But last week at an autograph signing event, where he wore a black cast on his two injured fingers, furthering frustration and speculation from Utes’ fans on social media.
Ahead of No. 16 Utah’s (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) matchup vs. Arizona State (4-1, 1-1) at 8:30 p.m. MT on Friday in Tempe, Arizona, the seventh-year quarterback’s injury saga will continue.
“We’re just seeing how things play out,” Whittingham said. “But again, we’ll follow all the medical recommendations. Cam’s not a doctor. We’re not going to go against that. So that’s where we’re at.”
The Utes aren’t making any announcements or any promises.
Sooner or later, though, they might be making a contingency plan.
Freshman quarterback and former four-star recruit Isaac Wilson is the Utes’ heir apparent. While he has been seen as a fill-in for Rising since the injury, Whittingham said there is a chance Wilson could have the keys handed to him in earnest.
“There is a point,” Whittingham said. “I’m not going to pin ourselves down to an exact specific time, but as things progress there’s also the conference race. (It depends on) where you are in the conference race. Those are some of the things that enter into it, but it certainly could come to that point. We’re not there yet.”
Look to last season as an example: For the first six weeks of the 2023 season Rising’s status was up in the air until he announced he’d miss the rest of the season due to the extent of his knee injury. The Utes, in turn, moved forward with former quarterbacks Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson to run a dual-quarterback system.
So far the results have been inconsistent when the freshman quarterback has been Utah’s leader on offense.
Wilson has completed 55.7% of his passes, while throwing 830 passing yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. Whittingham said, for the time being, Wilson will remain as Rising’s insurance policy. But if his play worsens the Utes could look to backups Sam Huard or Brandon Rose.
Utah’s head coach would also not speculate on the opportunity for Rising to return for an eighth season of college football if he were to be shut down for the rest of the season. At Big 12 Media Days, Rising indicated that “seven years is more than enough,” and “that’s not the plan,” in response to the speculation.
On Monday, Whittingham added: “I couldn’t say for sure, but that’s a compliance question. But, if it does come to that point, that’s something we would thoroughly have the answer to and research. We haven’t even really given that any thought because we’re just hopefully going to get him back sooner rather than later. I know he wants to play, and he wants to play badly.”
But when that might happen is something Whittingham isn’t willing to share yet.
