Cameron Rising’s week-to-week health has officially become a ‘thing’ – which is an exaggeration to begin with. Anything “official” regarding the availability of a Utah quarterback should come with a disclaimer.
Believe at your own risk.
The amount of speculation, innuendos, projections and (increasing) fan annoyance surrounding Rising’s health deserves its own pre-game show.
Will he play? Isn’t it? Streetwear or dressed up? Forget Waldo, where’s Cam? Now let’s take this commercial break to catch our breath.
In case you missed it — and maybe at some point, you probably did — Rising is Utah’s 25-year-old in his seventh season of eligibility and Utah’s best player. He led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 titles and back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances. But the last time we saw him complete a full season was 2021.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Injuries occur. Rising played painfully in 2022 and ultimately exited the final game of that season in the Rose Bowl against Penn State with a torn knee. He appeared 606 days later in the 2024 season opener… but was injured again a week later against Baylor. More on that below.
What has emerged amid the weekly Rising Watch falls between typical caution in reporting infections at best and conspiracy at worst. Someone, somewhere, should have been more honest.
Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t normal, even in a sport that sometimes makes a charade based on injury information.
It’s gotten so weird that the Utah message board geniuses suddenly have a meaningful perspective.
From Utifan 2:
“It’s time to move on from an injury-prone start.
Yes. Thank you for your heart and persistence, but I think at this point it does more harm than good.
Cam went all fall getting reps for QB1 and now he’s standing on the sideline watching again.
For the second year in a row, Cam is the highest-paid player on the team. “There’s not much return on that investment.”
From Utivan 78:
“I was a huge fan of Rising, but I was tired of the circus surrounding whether he was playing or not.”
From csarge523:
“It’s not Cam’s fault. The distraction is just Wyatt’s fault.” [coach Kyle Whittingham] Dealing with injury. Just tell us the truth.
All the right notes. Now mix…
NIL: Rising is making at least $1 million this season. In this confusing world of player compensation, is it rude to ask if Utah is getting a return on investment? RECRUITMENT: Will Rising’s continued presence — or not — impact Utah’s recruiting of future quarterbacks? Isaac Wilson: The younger brother of BYU QB Zach Wilson could begin to answer that question. Wilson is 2-1 in his three starts with five touchdowns and five picks in Rising’s absence.
Or does Rising simply deserve to rehab at his own pace and with the most honest intentions no matter how clumsily he expresses his availability?
And while the loss to Arizona on Saturday was crippling, the Utes, who were picked to win the Big 12 title in the preseason, still have all their goals left. This bye week in Utah allows us to relax, reconsider and…rehabilitate.
This started because Rising’s availability in 2023 while rehabbing his injured knee became a weekly exercise in speculation. There was a decision made by God, country and playing time regarding the quarterback in 2023.
It wasn’t until Week 6 of last season that the quarterback confirmed what many had suspected all along: That injury against Penn State wasn’t insignificant. It was devastating. It was the off season. Tear of MCL, ACL, MPFL and meniscus.
With everything going on, Rising was somehow given clearance to practice in early September.
“I was going to play as soon as I could,” Rising told CBS Sports before the season. “It was a time when it seemed possible to me in Florida [in the season opener]. During fall camp, I wasn’t able to manage as well as I could have. “It brought me back.”
The weekly dance around the fire injury report continues. Rising missed his third game on Saturday since cutting his fingers after being pushed out of bounds against the Bears on September 7.
“We’re not trying to practice any skills or any of that stuff,” Whittingham said of Rising last week.
Except…that’s what it seemed like. Or worse. This is at least what comes with the perception of not dealing directly with injury information.
Again, csarge523:
[This] It goes back to dealing with how the injury is communicated to the media and fan base. They should have just said, “This is going to take 3 to 4 weeks to heal.” End of story.
Utah wouldn’t be the first to implement a blackout. One particular sign-stealing scandal last season reminded us just how far teams will go to win.
Let’s be clear – this is not that. Sometimes weekly game time decision notifications become a fine art in themselves. It also gets boring sometimes. Bill Belichick famously included Tom Brady on his three-year injury report. During part of that time, Brady was in the process of playing 127 consecutive games.
But Utah also has to understand what that looks like to the outside world. By keeping the opponent poorly informed, the fans, the media and even the gambling community deserve better.
All of the Power Four conferences use Matt Holt, founder of US Integrity in Las Vegas, as their gambling integrity monitor. They have to since the Supreme Court allowed state-sponsored sports betting in 2018.
Holt has urged transparent and comprehensive injury reporting to keep out the gray information affecting point differentials. This is a good thing. If we don’t know or trust who knows the vital information, we can’t trust whether the games themselves are legitimate or not.
The SEC and the Big Ten get it. They listened this season, each asking their teams to issue injury reports listing availability two hours before game time.
“We constantly tell colleges, if you continue to hide information for purposes of gaming or competitive advantage, you’re putting student-athletes, coaches, equipment managers and assistant coaches in a high-risk category,” Holt told CBS Sports. Betting pools start to know, ‘Hey, this coach isn’t going to disclose injury information,’… now there’s real value in getting that inside information.”
Enforcing infection reports would solve this problem. The Big 12 and ACC don’t need it right now, but like all the other conferences, they will soon. The last thing college football needs is a gambling scandal.
It’s probably unfair for him to fade ascension on this one because he certainly has a history of injury. But he certainly won’t hide anything from the NFL, which knows what you’re having for breakfast before you wake up.
Who can blame Rising for trying to maximize the college experience? If that’s really what this is. Rising appears to have an eighth year of eligibility if he can obtain a medical waiver from the NCAA.
The average NFL career is 2 ½ years. The height has tripled in college.
“Absolutely,” Rising said of looking forward to the NFL. “This has definitely been a dream of mine. I’ve just taken the long road to get there.”
I wish this path had become clearer in terms of injuries and how to report them.
