Standout quarterback Cameron Rising has experienced more misfortune, and Utah’s season is teetering on a downward slope.
The Utes will have Isaac Wilson behind center for the long term. They will look to halt a two-game skid on Saturday night when they host TCU in Big 12 play at Salt Lake City.
Rising sustained a season-ending injury to his right lower leg during last weekend’s 27-19 setback to host Arizona State. The loss of Rising comes when the Utes (4-2, 1-2) are facing slim odds of being in the postseason playoff mix.
“They’ve got to be warriors and want to battle through some adversity,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s not like we’re 1-5 and sitting here with a horrific season. We have dropped a couple of games in a row, and we’re not used to losing two in a row around here.”
Rising missed all of last season due to a major left knee injury sustained in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2, 2023. This season, the seventh-year player missed three games with a hand injury before going down against the Sun Devils.
“During his time at Utah, Cam has been both a great player and leader for our program, and he will obviously be missed,” Whittingham said.
Wilson has passed for 830 yards and six touchdowns this season. However, the freshman has been intercepted seven times and has completed just 55.7 percent of his attempts.
Micah Bernard is coming off a 129-yard rushing performance that marks his fourth 100-yard outing of the season. Bernard has 676 yards and a healthy 6.6 average per carry.
The Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2) are coming off a bye. Two weeks ago, they lost 30-19 to visiting Houston, a team that was shut out in its previous two games.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said his program returned to basics during the break.
“We tried to focus a lot on fundamentals,” he said Tuesday. “Playing lower up front, obviously better ball security and tackling, just all the stuff that’s important. We had a bunch of opportunities last week to get some work in, and I thought we had really good practices and improved.”
The Horned Frogs feature an elite receiver in Jack Bech, who is tied for fifth nationally with 702 receiving yards. He also has seven scores on 39 receptions.
Bech has four 100-yard outings this season, topped by a 200-yard effort against UCF on Sept. 14.
Quarterback Josh Hoover has completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 2,007 yards and 16 touchdowns, with six interceptions. The yardage ranks fifth nationally.
Utah holds a 5-3 series lead. The programs previously have faced off in the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences.
–Field Level Media
