Utah's Cam Rising Out for Season with Leg Injury; HC to 'Consider' 8th Year for QB

Utah quarterback Cam Rising's 2024 campaign has come to an unfortunate end, but that doesn't mean his lengthy college career is over.

The team announced Monday that Rising's leg injury "has unfortunately been deemed season-ending," via Pete Thamel of ESPN.

It came after head coach Kyle Whittingham said the quarterback would be out indefinitely due to a lower leg injury. However, Rising is eligible for an eighth year of college football through a medical redshirt, and Whittingham said, "We'll have to consider it, not sure if Cam has considered it."

Rising was sidelined with a finger injury earlier this year and appeared in just three games. Upon his return in a Week 7 start against Arizona State this past Saturday, he looked like a shell of himself as he threw for 209 yards and three interceptions in a 27-19 loss that dropped Utah's record to 4-2.

In his three appearances this season, Rising completed just 51.5 percent of his passes for 555 yards, seven touchdowns and three picks. Over 26 games with the Utes during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation by throwing for 5,527 yards, 46 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while completing 64.2 percent of his passes.

Unfortunately, a major knee injury in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2022 campaign forced him to miss the entire 2023 season. He also redshirted his first collegiate season at Texas in 2018 before transferring to Utah the following year, when he was redshirted once again. He appeared in just one game in the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season due to a shoulder injury.

Under NCAA rules, players can play in four games in a season and still redshirt, per Pete Nakos of On3.com. The NCAA manual states that an athlete "may be granted an additional year of competition by the conference or the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for reasons of 'hardship.'"

Whittingham added that quarterback Isaac Wilson will take over as the starter for the Utes in Rising's absence.