The World Won’t Stop Turning

In last week’s post-game press conference, Kyle Whittingham summed up what all of us have been thinking about the Utah offense since the beginning of 2023.

“The world can’t stop turning when Cam exits a game.”

Unfortunately, as we discussed last week after Utah’s deflating win against Baylor, that hasn’t traditionally been the case. Whittingham and his offenses have spent the better part of two decades looking for identity on offense, and only seem to find it under the perfect conditions. With the right starting QB leading the way, Andy Ludwig’s offenses have the opportunity to thrive, and Cam Rising has seized the opportunity.

The difference in Utah’s offense without Rising is due in no small part to who Cam Rising is as a player. Rising is inarguably one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12 Big 12 when he is healthy. Rising is one of only a couple of active college football quarterbacks with two conference championships and two New Year’s Six bowl game appearances. He is one of Utah’s highest-rated quarterbacks in history as a recruit entering the league, and has shown those abilities countless times.

It is due in no small part to who Cam Rising is as a person. His rapport with this team is bordering on legendary; his mere presence seems to uplift this offense (and fanbase). He plays with a confidence and swagger that is contagious. For better or worse, it seems this team goes as does its charismatic leader, and the emotional lift he provides can feel impossible to replace.

It is due in no small part to who Cam Rising is as a student of Andy Ludwig’s offense. Other than Ludwig, nobody knows this offense as well as Rising, perhaps even including Kyle Whittingham. With Rising under center, Utah fans, coaches, and players alike trust that he will get them into the right look for whatever the defense is giving them. What he lacks in ball speed in his seventh year of college football, after multiple season-ending injuries to his shoulders and knees, he makes up for with his intuition and understanding of the field in front of him. 

This mixture of skill, swagger and smarts is exactly what Andy Ludwig and Kyle Whittingham have been searching for. The past four years have been exciting because even as fans we can feel its presence. The past year and change have been agonizing because we can feel its absence when it is missing.

Enter Isaac Wilson, the true freshman backup, attempting to get himself out of Cam Rising’s massive shadow, making his first start in a rivalry game, on the road, in his third college football game ever. 

Wilson won the starting job despite lacking the experience of Utah redshirt sophomore Brandon Rose, who was expected to back up Rising while Wilson matured as a player and learned Utah’s complicated offense. Wilson defied those expectations; his combination of potential and arm talent thrusting him into the backup role. 

Isaac Wilson has the skill to play QB, the most important of the three ingredients that make up the perfect QB for this Andy Ludwig offense. The other two will have to come with time. Wilson understands this, and said so last week after being put into the Baylor game. 

“I need to be ready…I need to be able to trust my teammates, and my teammates need to be able to trust me.” 

When Wilson and Utah got the ball for the first time it was hard to tell if he was ready, because it didn’t look much like anyone in white and red was. The first quarter was troubling to say the least, with Utah State moving the ball well, and Utah putting together disappointing threes-and-out to give the ball back. The little success Utah had ended in a field goal, while Utah State finished their drives in the endzone. Early in the second quarter Utah State had a 14-3 lead, and the lack of offensive identity was apparent. The offense wasn’t ready, and the trust wasn’t there, because when the team took the field, Cam Rising wasn’t there either.

And then Isaac Wilson and the offense settled in and we began to see the identity come back. A couple of early completions to Dorian Singer was exactly the shot in the arm the offense needed, finally giving the fans (not to mention Singer) something they’ve been clamoring for. The passes gave Micah Bernard and Mike Mitchell just enough space to provide much needed support on the ground, and Utah took the lead back going into halftime. The second half was more of the same, with Micah and Mike making big runs in critical moments, allowing Isaac Wilson to get comfortable and move the ball in chunks. 

Wilson ended the game completing a Utah season high 20 passes, a Utah season high of 11 of which went to wide-receivers, to a Utah season high-tying 9 different players. Dorian Singer had his biggest game of the season, 66 yards through the air on 5 catches, which is only scratching the surface of what we’d hoped to see from him in this offense. Money Parks continued his great start to the season with 4 catches of his own for 49 yards and a touchdown, one of those receptions coming from a spectacular throw from Isaac Wilson on a contested corner route. Carsen Ryan and Caleb Lohner added their own touchdown receptions in the red zone to all but put the game away for Utah in the second half. 

After Utah State’s quick 14-3 lead, Utah dominated, ending the game on a 35-7 run, giving the Utah offense its first road win of the season, and giving Isaac Wilson his first win as a Utah starter.

As encouraging as it was to see Wilson and the offense settle in and get the win, don’t get it twisted, things weren’t perfect (though I’ve learned not to expect perfect). After spreading the ball around and getting so many receivers involved, Wilson undoubtedly began earning some much needed trust with this offense. 

However, trust is one thing, and routine is another. At key moments of the game, Wilson and his receivers couldn’t quite connect. A handful of Wilson’s passes were dropped, often because they were a little off target – most of his throws came out a little high or had a little too much zip on them, one of them ending up in the hands of a Utah State defender for Wilson’s only interception of the game, his third of the season. A couple more drops in some critical moments early in the game put Utah’s defense back on the field, and allowed Utah State to take advantage on offense. 

Cam Rising’s importance to this offense has raised questions of the future, this being his last season with Utah and the end of Utah’s greatest football era in recent memory. But it’s important to remember where Rising started. In his first complete game with Utah, a 2021 game against Washington State in Salt Lake City, Cam Rising had 137 yards on 13-23

passing (56.5%, 6.0 avg) with 0 TD and 0 INT. Yesterday Isaac Wilson had 239 yards on 20-33 passing (60.6%, 7.2 avg) with 3 TD and 1 INT.

Isaac Wilson’s skill will only improve, his smarts will continue to build with time, and if he is anything like his older brother Zach, the necessary swagger will undoubtedly come along with it. Things today weren’t perfect, but they point to a future that is very bright. 

As for the near future, Kyle Whittingham said they expect Rising back next week as the Utes open up Big 12 play at Oklahoma State. It’s hard to overstate the importance of that game and how critical it will be to have Rising leading the team in Stillwater for its first game of a new conference era in the pursuit of a conference championship which they were picked in the preseason to win. It’s still true that Utah plays its best football with Rising as its leader on the field, and we should expect more from the Utah offense when he returns. 

As important as Cam Rising is to this offense, and as thrilled as I am to have him back for what could end up being Utah’s most important game of the regular season, I am more encouraged by something else, something we wouldn’t have seen had he not gone hand-first into a Gatorade cooler against Baylor.

Utah can have an identity outside of Cam Rising. With some time and some trust, Isaac Wilson is capable of leading the Utah offense, now and into the future. It won’t happen overnight, and it won’t be the same, but the world doesn’t have to stop turning when Cam exits a game.

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