Is Utah better served to be a pass-heavy team with Cam Rising under center?

SALT LAKE CITY — As Cam Rising made his way to the postgame press conference on Saturday, he was greeted with a chorus of heavy cheers from outside the room as he walked up to the podium in front of a smattering of local and national media that was ready to ask him about his performance that night.

He offered a slight chuckle as his routine big smile on his face grew bigger, shook it off, sat down, and got down to business.

Minutes before, the starting quarterback for Utah had played the game of his life. Rising scored the game-winning touchdown and the ensuing 2-point conversion to lift Utah to a 1-point lead over a USC team that had its way against the Utes defense for much of the night.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams showed why he was a preseason Heisman candidate as he threw for 381 yards and five touchdowns on 25-of-42 passing. But despite dodging and weaving around Utah's defense all night, it was Rising's night to shine.

The Ventura, California, native threw for 415 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-44 passing, and added 60 rushing yards and three touchdowns to account for a banner night for the Utes quarterback. It was the best performance from a Utah quarterback since Oct. 15, 2005, when Brian Johnson threw for 417 yards and ran for 66 yards.

In a game where Utah put up 562 total yards of offense, it was Rising and the passing game's 424 yards that won the night (to say nothing of Dalton Kincaid's impressive 16 catches on 16 targets for 234 yards).

"In my head, I always like to think it's gonna be a track meet and that we're gonna have to score every single possession that we have," Rising said Monday. "Just got to take advantage of whatever opportunities they give us."

Those opportunities to open up the passing game were on full display against USC as Rising threw the ball on 58.4% of the team's 77 plays and ultimately went toe-to-toe with a high-powered USC offense with an arsenal of weapons at its disposal.

It was the highest percentage of passing in a game for Utah since Rising was forced to go pass-heavy in a triple overtime loss to San Diego State last season in a game where he checked in as the backup quarterback in the third quarter and never gave up the reigns. It was a rare exception to a Utah offense that is traditionally run-heavy — or at least schemed more toward the run.

In 2021, Utah remained a run-heavy defense and passed on 42.5% of all plays that season, with a relatively balanced level of production in both the run and passing game. Over the last five full seasons, Utah averaged just over 41% passing, with some seasons approaching closer to 45% and one (2019) as low as 35.2%.

But with the numbers Rising managed on Saturday and a run game that has been slow to develop for the Utes this season without a consistent No. 1 running back in play, is Utah better served to lean into a pass-heavy scheme and maximize the starting quarterback's arm? Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham didn't rule it out.

"You know, each team has its own identity, and in the past, we have been a physical run-team outfit," Whittingham said. "But this group of O-linemen seem to be very good pass protectors. They're doing a nice job — really nice job — protecting the quarterback. Cam's got an exceptional arm as far as where to go with the ball and going through his progression — makes great decisions — and so this team appears to be a little more leaning on the throw game than teams in the past."

So far this season, Utah has averaged a pass on 45.3% of its plays, the highest percentage over the last five full seasons (and much longer, too; in comparison, Utah averaged a high of 45.4% in 2008 with Brian Johnson at QB). Additionally, the team has averaged 280.3 passing yards per game this season, which is higher than the five-season average of 224.4.

Utah is getting more production out of its offense this year that is slightly more schemed toward the pass. And it's doing so while still averaging 192.4 rushing yards per game, which is on par with the five-season average of 195.8.

Does that mean Utah will suddenly open up the passing game and sprinkle in the run game over its final five games of the regular season? In the words of ESPN's Lee Corso: "Not so fast, my friend."

If Rising is able to continue to produce 400-yard games, Whittingham said, they'd "love to do that every week." But he added there's "more than one way to win a game," and it depends on the opponent.

"Some weeks it's just pound the rock and rush for 200-300 yards, and this week wasn't one of those," he said. "We had to score and score in bunches, and so we leaned more on the throw game."

Against USC, in a game Whittingham said the team couldn't settle for field goals, an effective passing game did the trick. But in other games, it may not be the most effective scheme to utilize. If it came down to a more pass-heavy offense, though, Rising said he wouldn't hate it.

"I have no problem with that," Rising said. "I'll throw the ball as many times as you want. I'll throw it as many times as they let me."

Regardless of how the reps are divided between the plays, Utah has found a solution to get production on offense, and has also shown an ability to adjust to the absence of dynamic tight end Brant Kuithe, who was previously the team's leading target and most potent threat on offense (though Kincaid has proven to be a worthy suitor).

It's an offense that has started to hum along and score on a more consistent basis since Kuithe suffered a season-ending injury to his knee. That was evidenced by Rising orchestrating a touchdown on five of the team's final six drives of the game against USC — the sixth drive got down to the 3-yard line before the Utes coughed up the ball and fumbled it into USC's hands.

"I don't think we'll ever really fill in the role that Brant had: He's phenomenal and a special player that you can't really mimic unless you kind of look at Cooper Kupp," Kincaid said. "But I think we're doing a good job of trying to fill a void of that and just putting playmakers in positions to make plays."

"It's never gonna be easier — 80 is a difference maker whenever you have a guy like that that can rack and get open at will almost," Rising added. "He's a phenomenal player, but I think guys are doing everything that they can to continue to step up to fill that void."

Maybe all of that has Utah thinking a bit more on the direction it wants to take the offense for the remainder of the season.

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