Utah was hit with another round of brutal injury news on Tuesday night.
Sophomore quarterback Brandon Rose, who earned his first start versus BYU last weekend, suffered a season-ending lower leg injury in the contest, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham announced.
“We had some unfortunate news late yesterday,” Whittingham said. “Brandon is out for the season, which is three games and he will be unavailable with a lower-leg injury that will require surgery. So that was disappointing.”
Rose is the third Utah quarterback to suffer a season-ending injury in 2024. Seventh-year quarterback Cam Rising recently underwent season-ending ankle surgery last Wednesday.
Former five-star recruit and Cal Poly transfer quarterback Sam Huard is also out for the season after undergoing surgery on an undisclosed injury.
“You learn a lot about yourself, about players and about coaches,” Whittingham said. “They always say that adversity reveals character, and so we’re having plenty of opportunity right now to reveal character.”
Rose, in the first start of his Utah career, finished 12 of 21 with 112 passing yards and two touchdowns vs. BYU. The Utes will now turn back to true freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, who has started five games this season and was later benched for Rose three weeks ago in their 17-14 loss to Houston.
Outside of Wilson, senior quarterback Luke Bottari will now serve as the backup for the rest of the season.
“Isaac and Luke will hold down the fort,” Whittingham said. “Laugh until you cry. We just keep losing guys. It’s unfortunate, but those guys will hold down the fort.”
