Three Biggest Takeaways From Utah's Week 1 Win

Even though it was just a tune-up game against an FCS foe, Utah fans have plenty of reason to be excited after a dominant 49-0 season-opening win over Southern Utah. With so many positives to draw from the performance, let's take a look at three of the most important takeaways from the contest.

Related: Utah QB Cam Rising Makes Single-Game History in an Impressive Stat Category

Cam Rising is back

One of the top storylines of opening weekend was the return of Utah quarterback Cameron Rising, who missed the entire 2023 season with a knee injury. The question was, even though he's back, would Rising have some rust to shake off?

The answer seems to be no. Of course, Utah will face much stiffer competition the rest of this season, but Rising looked to be largely his old self against Southern Utah, as he looked comfortable in the pocket while displaying plenty of mobility to boot.

In fact, Rising put in one of his best-ever performances as he tossed five first-half touchdowns for Utah. If he's going to play at this level consistently, Utah will be a tough team to beat in the Big 12. The fact that backup Isaac Wilson struggled in relief of Rising (one touchdown and a pair of picks) further implies that Rising's strong output wasn't solely due to level of competition- he really played some great football on Thursday night.

Top target Brant Kuithe is ready to go too

Rising isn't the only offensive star who missed time for the Utes last season- after a devastating ACL injury in 2022, star tight end Kuithe took a medical redshirt season as well.

Running back Dijon Stanley may have hoarded the spotlight a bit with three big-play receptions, but Kuithe had a great return to action. He caught 4 passes for 69 yards, making history of his own as he scored three times. If Kuithe can stay healthy, he'll be a veritable #1 option for the Utah air game, making this offense extremely dangerous with Rising back at the helm.

The Utes can flex a balanced ground game

We'll stick to the offensive side of the ball, as we didn't learn too much about an elite Utah defense via their shutout of an FCS squad. Oftentimes, it can be a negative indicator that a team's leading rusher in a game only accrued 34 yards- especially in a win against overmatched competition- but that's not the case this time out.

That stat only means that Utah's rushing attack was very balanced, as despite the relatively low rushing output from Stanley, who chipped in significantly as a receiver, the team ran for 185 yards at a rate of 4.7 per carry. Micah Bernard showed that he can be a contributor as a second back with 6.6 yards per carry on the day while even Rising looked like a threat to take off and run.