Cam Rising injury: Utah HC Kyle Whittingham weighs in on the hit that injured star quarterback
The No. 12 Utah Utes won against Baylor on Saturday, but not before star quarterback Cam Rising was injured in the second quarter. Following a hit in the second quarter, Rising returned to the sideline, grabbing the middle finger on his right hand, which is also his throwing hand.
He went to the Utah locker room for examination and then spent the second half on the sideline in street clothes. His middle and ring fingers were taped together. After watching the replay of the tackle that injured the quarterback, Whittingham weighed in on the hit, saying it should have been called for a penalty.
“If I was the official on that call on that hit, I would’ve called it,” Whittingham said. “It looked like the hit certainly started out legal in bounds.
"And, as it progressed it looked like there was some arm extension and maybe a little extra shove. I’m not going to complain or whine about it, but, if I was officiating on the spot right there, I would’ve thrown the flag.”
A talking point by coach Kyle Whittingham in Utah coming into the season was that Cam Rising needs to avoid unnecessary hits and limit running the ball.
"Not everything, but that's who he is. he's so compettive. he's a fierce competitor, as I've said over and over. And when he's out there, his competitive instinct is just, it's just there and it's hard to shut off. We'd like to see him be even more cautious and even more cognizant of staying out of harm's way," Whittingham said via Yahoo Sports.
"But again, it's hard when you got a guy that is that, and I keep going back to the same word, competitive, It's not an easy task."
So, while Whittingham would prefer if Rising was more cautious, he understands that his competitive nature makes that hard for him.
Will Cam Rising be ready for Week 3?
Whittingham did not give a definitive answer when asked about when Cam Rising will be back.
" We don't give any injury updates unless they're season-ending, so we won't say who's going to play quarterback, even when we know. It's just not how we do it, so we'll see what happens, but other than Cam going out, we seemed to stay very healthy in that game," Whittingham said.
If Rising can't play in week 3 against Utah State, true freshman Isaac Wilson will get the start. Wilson has played half of both of Utah's games so far. He has completed 11 of 20 passes, throwing for 104 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.