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SALT LAKE CITY — The 2024 season was supposed to be one to remember for Utah football.
It's definitely been one to remember, just for the opposite reasons the school intended.
On Tuesday, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham announced that quarterback Brandon Rose, who earned his first start of his collegiate career Saturday against BYU, sustained a season-ending injury during the game.
"Had some unfortunate news late yesterday," Whittingham said. "Brandon Rose is out for the season, which three games remaining, three games he'll be unavailable with a lower-leg injury that will require surgery. So that was disappointing."
Rose becomes the third quarterback to sustain a season-ending injury this season, with starting quarterback Cam Rising as the biggest impact to the team's offense. Utah also lost transfer Sam Huard a couple weeks ago after sustaining an injury during practice.
That leaves Isaac Wilson, who has played in seven and started five this season, to be the team's starter for the remainder of the season, with walk-on quarterback Luke Bottari, who started against Colorado last season, as the team's only other quarterback options.
"You laugh till you cry," Whittingham half-heartedly joked. "We just keep losing guys and it's unfortunate, but those guys will hold down the fort. Isaac and Luke will hold down the fort."
It's the second consecutive season Utah's quarterback room (and team, in general) has undergone several season-ending injuries. Ahead of the 2024 campaign, Whittingham said the team changed some of its practices within the strength and conditioning to eliminate soft tissue injuries — a big problem in 2023.
But the 2024 injuries have been a different breed, he said.
"It worked on the soft tissue injuries, which is all you can really control — the soft tissue — and so we actually fared very well in that regard as far as eliminating those," Whittingham said. "But the kind of injuries we're getting now is nothing you can control with your training regimen."
On Saturday night, Whittingham said Utah lost Brant Kuithe to another season-ending injury to his leg — an injury that appeared serious, he said. On Monday, the severity of the injury, which has not been disclosed, was confirmed.
"You've just got to keep moving forward and next guy up mentality as you hear every week," he said.
