Utah will be without quarterback Cam Rising for the foreseeable future.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham announced Monday that Rising will be out “indefinitely” after he sustained a lower-leg injury in their 27-19 loss to Arizona State on Friday night. The injury marked the latest that the seventh-year quarterback has been hit with throughout his career.
Freshman Isaac Wilson will start in Rising’s place moving forward. Whittingham didn’t have a specific timeline for Rising’s recovery, and it’s unclear if he will be able to play again this season.
“I can’t give you a timeline. It could be the rest of the season,” Whittingham said, via ESPN. “I’m not sure how exactly long it will be, but I know it’s going to be a minute.”
Rising returned to the field for the Utes on Friday night after missing three games with a hand injury. He took a hard hit early in the pocket and had his right leg rolled up on as he was brought down.
Though he stayed in the game, he struggled the rest of the way. Rising finished throwing 16-of-37 for 209 yards and he threw three interceptions.
Rising first started at Texas in 2018, though he redshirted that season and then sat out all of 2019 after transferring to Utah. He went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in his first game in 2020, and he sustained first a concussion and then a knee injury in back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2021 and 2022. The knee injury kept Rising out of the entire 2023 season.
Though he’s in his seventh season, Rising could return for an eighth year next fall if he wants to. While Whittingham said they are open to that idea, he’s not sure if Rising would want to.
“Now that we’re in the situation that we’re in, that’s a possibility,” he said. “We’ll have to explore that in detail with the compliance department. And I’m not even sure Cam would be interested in going that route. He’s got a lot to think about, and so [he needs] to just take a step back right now and let them get this most recent injury thoroughly diagnosed … That would be something we’re talking about sooner rather than later.”
Rising, however, wasn’t too interested in coming back for an eighth season back in July. Undoubtedly, the situation now is different than it was three months ago.
With Rising out, Wilson will start in his place. Wilson, who is the younger brother of Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, has made three starts this season in Rising’s absence. He went 20-of-40 for 280 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in their loss to Arizona on Sept. 28, though he led the Utes past both Utah State and then-No. 14 Oklahoma State.
Utah, which sits at 4-2 on the season, will host TCU next on Saturday.