How will Kyle Whittingham keep Cam Rising ‘upright’ this year?

All three of Cam Rising’s seasons as the starting quarterback at Utah have ended early, from a shoulder injury in the 2020 season opener against USC, to a concussion in the fourth quarter in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State that knocked him out of the rest of the game, to a season-ending injury at the 2023 Rose Bowl against Penn State that resulted in a torn ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL, and the ensuing post-surgery recovery that kept him out of the entire 2023 season.

Utah’s goal in its first season in the Big 12 is to win the league and earn the College Football Playoff bid that will come from doing so, but in order for that to happen, Rising needs to be healthy and available for the entire season.

As demonstrated in back-to-back Pac-12 championship seasons, the veteran Utah quarterback — now in his seventh year in college football after a redshirt season at Texas, an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, and a medical redshirt — elevates the Utes’ offense in a way very few modern Utah signal-callers have done, with 5,572 career yards and 46 touchdowns.

“Having Cam Rising back, that’s the biggest factor for us this season is to have Cam back at quarterback,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He’s the alpha dog of the football team, the unquestioned leader. And we have to keep him upright this year. We keep him upright, we’ve got a really good chance.”

After last year’s string of season-ending injuries, including Rising, tight end Brant Kuithe, tight end Thomas Yassmin, running back Chris Curry, wide receiver Mycah Pittman, linebacker Lander Barton and defensive end Logan Fano, Utah is changing things up in fall camp to try to get to Aug. 29, when the Utes open the season against Southern Utah, healthy.

A new ramping-up plan

The Utes are moving to an NFL-style model of ramping up their fall training camp and implementing modifications in lifting to prevent soft-tissue injuries while also looking at the warmup and stretch routines the Utes are doing.

“Instead of just hitting the ground running, we’re going to go two days, take a day off, go three days, take a day off, go four days, take a day off. So there’s a ramping effect there,” Whittingham said.

While having that extra recovery time will be very beneficial as the Utes get fall camp underway this week, the physicality of fall camp isn’t changing — though Rising won’t be hit — after a less physical approach backfired in the Utes’ 2022 opener against Florida.

“As physical as we practice, you got to be able to divvy that up and so a little bit more emphasis on spreading out those physical periods, spreading out those physical practices, giving our guys time to recover,” defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley said.

“It’s really a part of playing smart football. You just got to get to the party healthy, but you cannot cut out the physicality. We saw that a couple years ago when we played Florida at their place. We backed off a little bit in tackling and I said, ‘I’m never doing that again,’” he continued. “So physicality is just part of the game and injuries are part of the game. That’s why we have a great strength staff to get these guys ready for fall camp and it looks like they’re ready.”

While no team that Utah will face this year, save for Arizona, ranked in the top 50 in sacks per game last year, and no 2024 opponent ranked in the top 50 in Pro Football Focus’ pass rush grades last season, Rising will be pursued, hit and sacked. While he can’t avoid all contact, there’s going to be an effort for the Utah quarterback to try and avoid unnecessary hits as best he can this season.

‘Times and place’

Whittingham emphasized that at Big 12 media days earlier this month in Las Vegas, noting that he has already had conversations with his quarterback about avoiding hits when possible and not trying to get that extra yard when Utah doesn’t need it.

“There’s times and place where you got to pick your spots but you got to be smart, you got to be judicious when you carry the football about how many hits you take on,” Whittingham said.

Part of the plan is for Ludwig to limit Rising’s designed quarterback runs, especially early in the year, and an added emphasis on getting the ball out early — or on time — to avoid scrambling, and if he does have to run, stepping out of bounds or throwing the ball away at times.

“He realizes it and we’ve had conversations about that, so it won’t be the first time he’s heard it and he does a good job of throwing the ball on time,” Ludwig said. “I think there’s some players on the perimeter that will help him get the ball out on time, which it alleviates some of those forced scrambles or forced times that he’s going to have to extend the play.

“But he’s a smart guy and he wants to play a long time, so he going to protect the ball and protect the quarterback.”

As Utah’s play-caller, Ludwig stressed that he was going to do his best in play designs and play calls to protect Rising, and has called upon not just the offensive line, but the running backs too.

To that point, offensive line coach Jim Harding said that Rising has the ability to flip protections, and that his knowledge of the game and experience will help him do that effectively.

“He sees things a lot quicker, a lot more clearly than maybe some of the other quarterbacks, including even my guys (on the offensive line),” Harding said. “So there is certainly a level of confidence that my guys have playing in front of him.”

Football is a violent game — no team in America makes it through a season fully unscathed — and despite all of Utah’s plans and precautions, one wrong leg plant or sack could result in an injury for Rising. Knowing the importance of Rising to the team’s success this season, though, the Utes are going to do everything in their power to give him the best chance to finish the season healthy.

When the game is on the line, though, all bets are off.

“It’s still football. You got to go out there and do whatever you got to do to win. That’s pretty much the only goal,” Rising said at Big 12 media days.