Is Cam Rising playing today vs. Oregon? Utah QB's status explored

Utah Utes's Cam Rising was the starting quarterback during the team's back-to-back Pac-12 championships in the last two seasons. After transferring from Texas in 2019, he served as the backup to Charles Bentley in 2020. A year later, he was given the starting QB job, during which he led Utah to Pac-12 glory.

However, the player is yet to make an appearance for the team this season. Following a grievous knee injury during last season's Rose Bowl game against Penn State, Risimg has been on a long road to rehabilitation. But is he going to make a comeback against Oregon in week 9?

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Cam Rising injury update

After sustaining the injury during the Rose Bowl game, Rising underwent surgery for a torn meniscus, MPFL, and MCL and also a torn ACL.

There had been a hope of the 24-year-old making a comeback in the latter half of this season, but after Utah defeated USC last weekend, coach Kyle Whittingham stated that their starting QB has been ruled out for the rest of the 2023 campaign.

After the game against USC, Whittingham provided updates to the media on the situation surrounding their star quarterback and TE Brian Kuithe, who is also dealing with a serious injury.

"Cam and Kuithe are shut down for the year, for the rest of the season. So that hopefullness each week is no longer. It was a medical decision to just shut them down", Whittingham said.

While talking about the possibility of Cam Rising returning next season with a medical redshirt, the coach said that this will be according to what the player decides for his future.

"Don't know what the future holds exactly for each of them. But when they're ready to talk about that, they'll be the ones to do that. That decision is not made right now, that's the next thing to happen. They've got a lot of options."

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What happened to Cam Rising?

Back in January, the quarterback injured his leg during the third quarter of the game. Initially, it was reported as just a torn ACL, with the expectation to make a season-opening comeback against Florida. But as the weeks went by, Rising continued to remain on the sidelines.

He then talked about how serious his injuries actually were on ESPN 700 and said:

"I wasn't really expecting to do this, but I just want everybody to know that I didn't just tear my ACL. I tore my meniscus, MPFL and MCL. It was a big surgery and it's not an easy comeback. I've been working my tail off", Rising said.

Thus, with this and the announcement made by Kyle Whittingham, the hope that fans carried of watching their star QB lead them to another Pac-12 title this year came to an end.

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Who will replace Cam Rising for week 9 against Oregon?

In the absence of Rising, Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes have been sharing time on the field with each other. Now, Whittingham has named Bryson Barnes as the starting quarterback for their game against the Oregon Ducks.

Utah USC Football

Barnes had a great game during their win against USC last weekend. He put up 235 passing yards and three TD passes, leading Utah to a 32-34 victory. He is expected to continue this momentum and help his team in the process of three-peating the Pac-12 conference.