Tag: Cam Rising Injury

If USC doesn’t make the Pac-12 title game this year, it can look to Pullman and Washington State

Yes, the Trojans needed to take care of business at Utah, and they didn’t, but it’s notable that Wazzu had both Oregon and Utah on the ropes, and let them get away.

What do we always say about any pursuit of a conference or division championship in sports? Control what you can control. The USC Trojans led the Utah Utes by 14 points on October 15. They needed to protect that lead. They still led by seven points with one minute left. They needed to protect that lead.

They did not. If they had, they wouldn’t be in an uncomfortable position right now in the Pac-12 championship race.

We can all see and admit that.

Yet, it’s hard to avoid noticing that two of USC’s foremost competitors for the Pac-12 title were both in big trouble in Pullman this season. Both were able to escape Washington State.

Oregon was down 34-22 to the Cougars with four minutes left in regulation and then scored 20 points. Thursday night, Utah was without Cam Rising, Tavion Thomas, and Micah Bernard (on top of Brant Kuithe, who was lost for the season several weeks ago). The Utes still won.

Let’s look at this game from a Washington State perspective:

Utah shows toughness and winning culture, battling significant injury problems at Washington State

The Utes showed why they won the #Pac12 title last year: Given a million reasons to lose faith, backups stepped up and won a tough road night game in Pullman.

This season has not been what Utah coaches, players or fans hoped it would be. Yes, Utah can still make the Pac-12 Championship Game and pull everything together, but the odds of winning at Oregon on Nov. 19 are not great, given the health problems the Utes face across the board.

The details which enabled Utah to beat Washington State — chiefly, that Wazzu lacks a fundamentally competent offensive line and elite playmaking receivers — do not exist for the Oregon Ducks. Utah will need a fully healthy Cam Rising and Dalton Kincaid to win that game, and right now, neither of those players are healthy.

However, discussion of Nov. 19 in Eugene can wait.

Utah had a walk-on backup QB against Washington State in a road night game. The Utes were without Tavion Thomas and Micah Bernard. Keep in mind that Brant Kuithe is already out for the year.

The Utes still won. That’s worth a tip of the cap. This win shows what Kyle Whittingham has built in Salt Lake City.

Let’s take you through all the limitations Utah fought through to get this win:

Cam Rising does not start Utah game vs Washington State on Thursday night

Utah and Kyle Whittingham clearly kept this under wraps during Utah’s off week. Salt Lake Tribune reporter Josh Newman provided some early details.

So this is a plot twist. Utah quarterback Cam Rising, who torched USC for over 400 passing yards on Oct. 15, did not start the Utes’ Thursday night game against Washington State, due to a knee injury.

This knee injury was kept under wraps, literally and figuratively. Rising did take the field for warm-ups before the Washington State game in Pullman, and he did so with his knee in a sleeve. No one knew before the game that Rising would not play, though the wrapping was conspicuous. It was not believed to be serious enough to keep him from actually playing.

Here are some more details from Salt Lake Tribune reporter Josh Newman: