The Utah Utes have arrived in the Big 12, and they’re making a statement. Once a dominant force in the Pac-12, where they claimed two of their three championship games, the Utes are wasting no time showing their power in their new conference. Their latest victory against Baylor University, a 23-12 win, only solidified their reputation as a team to watch. But the win came with a cost: their star quarterback, Cameron Rising, was taken off the field due to a critical injury, leaving fans holding their breath.

Rising, the heart and soul of Utah’s offense, went down in a pivotal moment while attempting to launch a pass. Holding the ball for just a second too long, he was blindsided by Baylor’s defensive lineman Trevan Ma’ae, who delivered a crushing hit that sent Rising tumbling into the team’s water coolers. The result? An injury to two fingers on his throwing hand—a blow that immediately had Utah’s faithful fearing the worst. Head coach Kyle Whittingham made the call to pull Rising from the game, and he wasn’t seen for the remainder of the contest.

With Rising sidelined, speculation swirled about whether Whittingham would be forced to deploy a dual-QB system to make up for his absence in the next game. Fans worried about how the team would cope without their star, and whether the injury would derail Utah’s promising Big 12 debut. But Whittingham had some good news to calm the storm: Rising’s injury, while concerning, doesn’t appear to be season-ending, and there’s hope that their QB will be back under center sooner than later.

For now, the Utes are charging ahead with confidence, bolstered by a defense that continues to dominate and an offense ready to adjust if needed. Rising’s recovery will be crucial, but Utah’s Big 12 takeover is far from slowing down. The Utes are here to stay, and they’re not backing down from the challenge.

Kyle Whittingham assures fans of Rising’s return

After the game on Saturday, a wave of fear swept over the Utes’ fans where they were compelled to think of the situation where they’d play the Texas A&M Aggies without the talents of Rising leading them. To better understand how vital Rising is to the team, here’s a look at his numbers against Southern Utah in the season-opener game. Rising recorded 254 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in total with 10 completed passes out of 15. The Utah Utes will desperately need Rising in their next game and Whittingham confirmed the news about his recovery which will let out a sigh of relief from the fans.

During a press conference led by Mark Whittingham, he was bombarded with questions about his team’s performance throughout. In one of the segments, a reporter asked the HC if he’d employ the “dual-quarterback” strategy but instantly shut it down by claiming that they wouldn’t need to go down such a route. His answer was, “I would say very unlikely. You know, we want to say never but I don’t think that based on a personnel or hierarchy of quarterbacks right now. I don’t see that.” Thus this indicates that Rising is well enough to play on 15th September against Utah State and the fans will be all the happier for it. Furthermore, Whittingham had a raging opinion on the tackle that Rising suffered and claimed that he’d “throw the flag” if he was the game’s referee.

The HC calls out the injury-causing foul on Cameron Rising

As of now, it’s still not confirmed whether Rising will play this week or not but the firsthand reports of his injury seem to point towards a positive situation. Additionally, ESPN 700 reported that the X-rays conducted on his hand indicated that there weren’t any grave injuries and yet, it remains to be seen whether the QB will step foot on the ground. As for the tackle by Trevan Ma’e that put Rising out, here’s what Whittingham had to say.

The coach watched the replay of the tackle several times and believed that a flag should have been thrown. He said, “It looked like the hit certainly started out legal in bounds. And, as it progressed it looked like there was some arm extension and maybe a little extra shove. I’m not going to complain or whine about it, but, if I was officiating on the spot right there, I would’ve thrown the flag.” Unfortunately, no flags were seen touching the ground but seeing how Rising’s injury is nothing to worry about, Whittingham’s Utes can count their blessings and move into their next game with a fresh mindset to win yet again.