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- Cam Rising, Utah's long-time quarterback, will miss the remainder of the football season due to a leg injury sustained during a game against Arizona State.
- Head coach Kyle Whittingham confirmed Rising's season-ending status, noting his significant contributions to Utah's program, including leading the team to consecutive Pac-12 championships.
- In Rising's absence, freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson will take over as the starting quarterback, with Whittingham expressing confidence in Wilson's ability to lead the team.
SALT LAKE CITY — Cam Rising's tenure at Utah has likely come to an end.
On Monday, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham announced that Rising is out "indefinitely" with a lower-leg injury and that freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, who started three games for Utah after Rising was injured earlier in the season, will be the team's starter "until further notice."
"I can't give you a timeline, could be the rest of the season — I'm not sure exactly — but I know it's going to be a minute," Whittingham said.
By Monday night, though, Whittingham announced in a statement that Rising's injury is season-ending.
"Upon further evaluation by our medical staff, Cameron Rising's injury has unfortunately been deemed season-ending," Whittingham said. "During his time at Utah, Cam has been both a great player and leader for our program, and he will obviously be missed. Any future developments concerning his collegiate eligibility will be addressed at a later date."
After sustaining an injury to his throwing hand in the first half of the second game of the season, Rising has been unavailable for much of the season. But the seventh-year senior returned to the field as the team's starter on Friday.
But a few plays into the game, an Arizona State defender rolled up on Rising's right leg, leaving the veteran QB limping. Rising managed to play the entirety of the game, but struggled to get the offense moving with inconsistent passing and a hesitancy to his decision-making.
Whittingham said after the game that it was "apparent that he's not 100%," but the coaching staff opted to leave Rising in the game — even when it was obvious to all that Rising was hampered due to injury and Utah's offense had trouble putting together a consistent drive.
"No, he wanted to play, and he felt very strongly that he wanted to stay in the game. He's won a bunch of ball games for us. ... But it's a coaching decision to decide who gives you the best chance to win the game, and that's who you put in there," Whittingham said Friday night. "And, like I said, Cam has been terrific for us in the past."
Asked on Monday if he felt like the team should have made a change to Wilson at halftime, Whittingham re-emphasized that Rising wanted to play.
"Cam is a warrior — wanted to play," Whittingham said. "We really moved the ball at the end of the first half and thought, 'OK' — even though we didn't get in the end zone. And then we moved the ball well the first drive to the second half. ... We had that thought — would that be a move that we would make? — but he wanted to finish.
"He's a seasoned vet and he would have let us know if he felt like he was not being effective enough, and so we did not make the move. And that's the decision that really our offensive coaches came to, our coordinator and quarterback coach."
'He's banged up': Utes face difficult decision following another Cam Rising injury
Cam Rising can't catch a break.Though Rising's status for the rest of the season remains up in the air, Whittingham has previously mentioned that the coaching staff could just decide to stick with Wilson for the entirety of the season. Even a short recovery for Rising leaves doubt of a return.
As such, Rising may have the option to return to Utah for an eighth season based on a new NCAA rule that gave eligibility back to players that were forced to sit out a season before open transfers became mainstream.
But whether that remains a possibility — or if Rising would even be open to it — remains to be seen, though a return doesn't seem likely.
"That's a possibility, I think; I don't know," Whittingham said. "Again, we'd have to explore it in detail with the compliance. And I'm not even sure Cam would be interested in going that route. He's got a lot to think about, and so just take a step back right now, let him get this most recent injury thoroughly diagnosed and on the road to rehab, and then that would be something we talk about sooner rather than later."
If Friday is the last time Rising takes another snap at Utah, he leaves the Utes having played in 30 games and only two full seasons. He'd finish with 6,127 career passing yards and 53 touchdowns, but helped Utah to back-to-back Pac-12 championships.
Utah now turns its attention to Wilson as the starter for the Utes. The former Corner Canyon High star has made progress each game he's played this season and will continue to "be the guy," according to Whittingham.
"There's no guesswork," he added. "He'll get all the reps, which equates to about 75% of the reps during the work week, and Brandon Rose will get the remaining 25%."
Rose remains the "solid No. 2," according to Whittingham, and there's "no plans to split the reps in the game or anything like that."
"If anything happens to Isaac, you will see Brandon," Whittingham added. "But unless things go really sideways, Isaac is our guy and we feel very confident in him."
