Utah’s Rising exits win vs. Baylor; injury said to be ‘not serious’

Utah quarterback Cam Rising left late in the second quarter of the Utes’ 23-12 win against Baylor on Saturday with a hand injury and did not return.

The injury occurred after Rising was shoved into a bank of watercoolers on the Baylor sideline, which did not result in a roughing the passer penalty. Rising was later seen in street clothes on the sideline with the ring and middle fingers on his right throwing hand taped.

Speaking after the win, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he was unable to provide anything conclusive about Rising’s availability for next week’s game against Utah State but did not sound overly concerned.

“Just been told it’s not real serious,” Whittingham said. “You know what I know now. It wasn’t real serious and can’t tell you the exact description of what happened, but he may be back this week. We’ll see.”

Before exiting, Rising completed 8 of 14 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns as Utah built a 23-0 lead. He was replaced by true freshman Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of NFL quarterback Zach Wilson, who completed 4 of 9 passes for 40 yards.

Rising, a seventh-year senior, missed all of last year with a major knee injury suffered in the Rose Bowl the previous season.

Rising’s return from injury this year is a significant reason Utah entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Big 12 in its first year in the conference. He led the Utes to Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022 and was a first-team all-conference selection in 2021.