Utah starting quarterback Cam Rising, sidelined due to a knee injury sustained in the Rose Bowl in January, will not play in 2023.
Coach Kyle Whittingham made the announcement following Utah’s win over Southern California on Saturday night.
Utah entered the game ranked No. 14 and led by quarterback Bryson Barnes, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the 34-32, last-second win over the Trojans. He added 57 rushing yards and a touchdown.
In an interview in October, Rising detailed the injuries to his left knee.
“I wasn’t really expecting to do this, but I think it’s important that I just let everybody know that I didn’t just tear my ACL,” Rising said during an appearance on “The Bill Riley Show,” a sports talk radio program and podcast in Utah.
“I tore my ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL,” he said. “There was a big surgery, and it’s not an easy comeback. I’ve been working my tail off.”
While there had been optimism Rising would play this season for the Utes (6-1), Whittingham shut down that option.
Rising potentially could return for the 2024 season, when he’d be 25. He redshirted at Texas in 2018, sat out 2019 as he transferred to Utah, then played in just one game in 2020 due to injury.
As Utah’s starter in 2021 and ’22, he amassed an 18-6 record as a starter, tallying 15 career games with 200-plus passing yards, including two 300-yard games and one 400-yard-game. He was a Pac-12 All-Conference first-team selection in 2021.
Whittingham also said tight end Brant Kuithe, who continues to recover from an ACL injury, also won’t play this season. Both Kuithe and Rising could apply to the NCAA for a medical redshirt.
“We’ve been hoping for ’em each week, but the medical staff was the ones who made that call,” Whittingham said. “And we’re not going to question that at all. That’s just not how we operate. So it was a medical decision for the rest of the year — it’s probably the safest thing to do for them, gives them the best chance to get back to 100 percent. So I’m 100 percent on board with that.”
–Field Level Media