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SALT LAKE CITY — The health and the regular-season availability of Cam Rising has been hovering over the University of Utah football program since the sixth-year senior left the Rose Bowl almost seven months ago with a torn ACL.
As the Utes prepare to open fall camp next week, Rising's status continues to be top of mind for fans, if not head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. There is no bigger Utah storyline going into camp, let alone the regular season as the Utes prepare to open vs. the University of Florida on Aug. 31 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
We will start this Utah Utes mailbag right there.
Q: "If Rising is 80% healthy for Florida, how would you approach that game? Sit him? Have extensive packages for Rose/Johnson?" - @nstod
I really don't like getting into hypotheticals with injuries, at least not publicly, but it's where we are until camp starts and we can get a bit better gauge of what's going on.
If Rising only gets to 80% for Florida, he should sit. I don't think there's any real argument the other way. The doctors and medical staff are in charge, not Whittingham, and if Rising is 80%, it's hard to imagine him being cleared; although a sixth-year senior, particularly this one, might be able to argue his way onto the field, but let's stay focused here.
A question here: Whittingham told me before spring practice he needs to see Rising ready to go roughly two weeks before the opener in order to take first-teams reps, knock some rust off and get comfortable. Would being 80% on approximately Aug. 15 suffice at that point if he's on his way to full health?
Whittingham through the winter and spring painted an expectation of Rising being ready for the opener. Both indicated at Pac-12 media day last week that things were on track, but Whittingham pulled things back a bit by saying Rising's readiness for Aug. 31 will be close. Gamesmanship? Maybe. Pretty close to the truth? Probably.
To be clear, I am not an orthopedist, but an ACL recovery time from injury to opener of less than eight months always felt aggressive. We're about to find out, good, bad or otherwise.
Q: "Will Utah three-peat?" - @samwinderart
I think a lot of it will depend on Rising's availability, but that's too easy. For the purposes of this exercise, let's assume Rising is at least ready for the Pac-12 opener on Sept. 23, and reasonable health elsewhere on the roster.
The odds are against it, and a lot of that has to do with the schedule, which is objectively Utah's toughest ever. At Oregon State on a Friday night, at USC, home for Oregon, at Washington in November when the weather in Seattle could be a mess. That's a lot. Then, take into account this is the Pac-12, where things tend to get weird, so let's pencil in dropping a clunker somewhere along the way, because Pac-12.
Remember the trip to Oregon State in 2021? What about the trip to UCLA in 2022?
With Rising, anything feels possible, but a great many things have to go right to walk into Husky Stadium on Nov. 11 with your title hopes still upright. Honestly, I would like this question better after we see how the nonconference slate shakes out. Speaking of which ...
Q: "Should Brandon Rose start at QB against UCLA after starting the season 3-0?" - @UofUMansir
I like this question a lot, because it offers a fascinating hypothetical.
Our friend here is indicating that Rising is not ready for Florida, so redshirt freshman Brandon Rose beats the Gators, then walks out of Baylor with that win, plus a victory over Weber State for a 3-0 start.
At that point, Rising is ready, and if Rising is ready, it's his show. Whittingham has made it clear in the past that this is Rising's team; he is the leader, the offense belongs to him, etc., but I'll play along here.
I do think Rose can beat Florida in his collegiate debut if he has significant help. I think beating Baylor in Waco is a much tougher task, but OK, fine. If Rose does all that and Utah is thriving under his direction, do you have to at least consider leaving him in there instead of throwing Rising in? At a minimum, are you getting a package ready for Rose like Ludwig and Co. did for Nate Johnson late last fall?
I gave this real consideration, but no, it's Rising's deal whenever he's ready. Whether or not Rose sees a role at that point remains to be seen.
Q: "It appears Coach Whitt refuses to refer to Deion Sanders as "Coach Prime," calling him "Coach Sanders" instead. How bad will that irk Deion over time and does it have the potential for him to say "we comin'" directly at Utah, finally adding a little juice to this fake rivalry?" - @LondonUte
To me, the big disappointment of Sanders not being at Pac-12 media day was the potential for someone to call him something other than coach Prime to see what his reaction would be.
A lot of people, including some media and even Pac-12 officials, have leaned into using coach Prime, and that is an embarrassment. We're all adults. His name is Deion, call him Deion. Whittingham going with coach Sanders is fine, but strictly from a media standpoint, calling a coach by anything other than his/her first name is also embarrassing. Kyle, Morgan, Andy, Sharrieff, Craig, Lynne, etc. Those are their names, they are not my coach.
I could go off on this topic for a week, but I won't. You're welcome.
Q: "Which of the basketball newcomers are expected to be immediate contributors? Early prediction of projected starters and rotation guys off the bench?" - @RobHaws
You're going to see Cole Bajema play a ton. The Washington transfer is a knockdown guy from all over the perimeter and, frankly, Utah needs that because it was direly missing such a weapon last season, especially when Gabe Madsen went down. If we're being honest, there was definitely a sense around the Pac-12 last winter that the Huskies were not using Bajema right or well enough, so there's that.
Lawson Lovering played well down the stretch last winter for Colorado, so he bears watching, specifically in a potential big-big lineup with Branden Carlson. How much we see that and how effective it will be to have two 7-footers on the floor together will be a key preseason storyline.
Projected starters on July 25? With a roll of the dice, let's go with Rollie Worster, Bajema, Madsen, Ben Carlson, Branden Carlson, with at least three guards/wings threatening to take over one of those guard spots. That group of at least three would include Georgia Tech transfer Deivon Smith, who is in need of eligibility waiver from the NCAA.
Q: "It appears that there are too many cooks in the kitchen in the RB room. Ja'Quinden Jackson turned it on late and Micah Bernard has always been a steady contributor. People are talking about how good Chris Curry and Jaylon Glover are, but is there any chance they get any significant run this year?" @alex_xlsx
I got a lot of questions for this mailbag about the running backs room, which to me is the third-biggest preseason storyline after Rising and the situation at free safety. That's because, while there seems to be this overwhelming notion among fans that the room is going to collectively hammer opposing defenses, I think there's more questions than people care to admit.
Yes, Jackson was terrific down the stretch in 2022, and yes, he will have had a full offseason working exclusively at running back, but the fact remains he carried the ball just 78 times last season. That's pretty light to start assuming something monstrous this fall.
All of that said, he and a presumably-healthy Bernard are likely to get the most touches. Glover, while capable, was hot and cold last fall, and Curry is coming off a major season-ending injury.
This wouldn't be the first time there were too many cooks in the kitchen, but the room was crowded in 2020 and 2021, and the cream eventually rose to the top. One thing to keep in mind here is that if Rising can do everything he does, you're likely to see a handful of designed runs, which will eat into the RB touches.
Q: "How is the coaching staff dealing with the conference having an uncertain future and uncertain media deal?" - @foxonabox_
I'm positive I got this question around this time last year, after the USC-UCLA news broke and as Utah was preparing the season. Amazingly, the answer has not changed.
The staff has no control over the conference's uncertain future or the uncertain media deal. That includes Whittingham, who may be asked his opinion on certain things, but I can assure you, he is not making any decision on either front.
Of the very few reasons the staff needs to be worried about this might be in terms of recruiting as kids in the classes of 2024, 2025, and on down the line might be asking questions pertaining to where or who they might be playing once they get to college.
Whittingham and the rest of them have little choice but to go about their day-to-day business, leaving such business to Mark Harlan, Taylor Randall, and anyone else that high on the food chain.
