Cam Rising to be 'very judicious' in one aspect of Utah football's plans

Cam Rising is officially back for Utah football. On Sunday, the Utes released their first offiical depth chart and there was Rising right at the top as the starting quarterback.

By all accounts, he’s 100 percent healthy. He’s ready to go. He’s ready to take hits that will have Utes fans holding their breath and apparently BYU fans hoping for the worst.

On that note, Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham said everyone in the program needs they need to be careful. They need to make sure they are working as hard as possible to keep Cam Rising playing every game, from beginning to end if needed.

Cam Rising to focus on one Utah football gameplan in particular

“Whittingham said Cam Rising is going to be ‘very judicious’ in his running,” Josh Furlong reported on Monday. “They've had several conversations with him to preserve his health. There will be situations during a game where he needs to run, but there's not going to be designed QB runs.”

It’s hardly surprising that Utah will be limiting the opportunities to lose Cam Rising to injury as they march towards a Big 12 title. However, it does mean Whittingham is taking away a big part of his starting quarterback’s game away.

Rising missed the entirety of the 2023 season but in both 2021 and 2022 he ran for just over 400 yards each. He also had 5 and 6 touchdown runs in those seasons respectively. 

It’s not as though Utah football will suffer from having Cam Rising be more of a pocket passer. He’s one of the best in the Big 12. But it will be interesting how much that changes the Utes’ offense in 2024.