Utah waiting on ‘go-ahead’ from medical staff as Cam Rising’s injury enters fifth week

As the Cam Rising injury saga moves into its fifth week, there’s still not much clarity.
Ever since the second week of the season — when Rising dislocated a finger on his throwing hand and suffered a laceration, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel — the focus on the veteran quarterback’s status has been the dominant storyline surrounding Utah’s program. That’s ramped up even more after Utah suffered its first loss of the season against Arizona during Isaac Wilson’s third consecutive start under center and Rising was seen at an autograph event with a finger brace or splint on his middle and ring fingers.
Rising, who was a game-time decision in Utah’s Big 12 opener in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was thought to be medically cleared before the Oklahoma State game. In each of the last three weeks, he’s warmed up in full uniform and has been throwing the ball, but it’s been Wilson getting the start.
“He was cleared for last week as far as just, yeah, you can use him, but just up to you guys what decision you make. So I think we’re past that point where you have to worry about reinjury or anything like that. Hopefully. Knock on wood,” Whittingham said on Sept. 23.
During his bye week media availability, however, Whittingham said that Rising “wants to play worse than anybody” and “as soon as he gets the go-ahead,” he will play.
On Monday, Whittingham was asked who is giving that go-ahead — the medical staff or the coaching staff? In previous weeks, it was seemingly the coaches’ decision not to play Rising due to the lack of velocity on his throws and feeling like a healthy Wilson gave Utah a better chance to win than a less-than-healthy Rising.
But it seems like we’re back to square one, as Whittingham said during his weekly press conference Monday that the “go-ahead” for Rising to return to play will come from the medical staff.
“Medical staff, without any other input. I mean, we’re following the recommendations, he is following the recommendations as well as from the doctors,” Whittingham said.
“We’ll see what happens this week, but there’s a chance (Rising plays), I can tell you that, and it’s still early in the week, but we’re crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, as is Cam,” Whittingham explained. “And so we’re just seeing how things play out, but again, we follow all the medical recommendations. We’re not going to, I’m not a doctor, Cam’s not a doctor, we’re not going to go against that. So that’s where we’re at.”
That’s a departure from Whittingham’s previous comments that Rising was cleared.
Like 2023, Utah is seemingly back in a situation where it is waiting for medical clearance for Rising to return. Unlike 2023, when Rising tore his ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL in the Rose Bowl prior to the season, it would seem that Rising would be able to recover from a dislocated finger and play sometime this season, unless he’s suffered a setback or the injury is worse than initially reported.
If Rising continues to not be able to play, is there a point where Utah will cut its losses and turn to Wilson as the permanent starter?
“There is a point, I’m not going to pin ourselves down to an exact specific time, but as things progress and then also the conference race, where are you in the conference race? There’s some things that enter into it, but it certainly could come to that point, but we’re not there yet,” Whittingham said.
If Utah suffers two more losses without Rising, which would more than likely put them out of the conference title race, there would be ample reason to look to the future and play Wilson, even if Rising is healthy at that point.
Of course, Rising could return soon and could put all of the injury discussion — and future hypothetical scenarios — to bed, but until that time arrives, Wilson continues to be Utah’s starting quarterback.
With the uncertainty surrounding Rising, the topic of injury reports reared its head again on Monday. The SEC and Big Ten require injury reports, but the Big 12 does not, so Utah does not have to reveal injury information. If Utah did have to submit an injury report, it probably wouldn’t have been any different than what Whittingham has told the media the last few weeks and would likely read “Cam Rising — hand — questionable/game time decision.”
As he’s said all along, if injury reports were required by the conference or the NCAA, Whittingham would be on board, since every program would have to do it. Since he’s not required to, he’s not going to reveal a lot about injuries, and that’s certainly not uncommon among programs without an injury report requirement.
“Since there is no mandate, why would you tip your hand in any way, shape or form with injuries? It doesn’t make any sense to give the opponent any more knowledge than they have,” Whittingham said. “And so that’s the only reason, it’s no other reason other than it’s a competitive advantage, even though it might be just slight, it’s still an advantage. The less they know, the more we know, that type of deal.”