Utah’s offense has regressed in quarterback Cameron Rising’s absence, and the No. 16 Utes’ chances of living up to Big 12 preseason expectations may hinge on his status going forward.
Rising has not played since injuring his throwing hand late in the second quarter against Baylor on Sept. 7, and the seventh-year senior — who has thrown for 346 yards and seven touchdowns in 1 1/2 games this season — likely will be a game-time decision in Utah’s Big 12 game at Arizona State (4-1, 1-1) on Friday night in Tempe, Ariz.
If Rising can’t play, freshman Isaac Wilson will make his fourth straight start.
Utah (4-1, 1-1) has struggled to finish drives in Rising’s absence. The Utes are averaging 16 points and 410 yards per game against Big 12 foes, and they have just two touchdowns in their past eight trips to the red zone.
Through five games, Utah has 11 touchdowns on 22 drives in which the Utes have reached the red zone.
“We’re about 20 percent off where we need to be,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s not like we’re absolutely horrible. We’re at 50 percent, which isn’t good by any means, but 70 percent is our target. If we can be 70 percent in the red zone, which we have been for several years … then that’s good production.”
Wilson has struggled to be a consistent passer.
He is averaging 242 yards passing per game in his three starts this season. Still, he has completed only 55.7 percent of his passes and has thrown seven interceptions in five games. His mistakes stalled the Utah offense at crucial junctures in a 23-10 loss to Arizona on Sept. 28.
“His entire game just needs to continue to get tighter and better,” Whittingham said. “But there’s not any one glaring area where you can say he’s really lacking in this or that. He’s a freshman — a true freshman. There’s going to be a learning curve, there’s going to be mistakes made that you’re going to have to live with.”
Arizona State has been trending in a much better direction behind a robust rushing attack. Cam Skattebo ranks second in the Big 12 in rushing with 615 yards and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
The Sun Devils also have battled inconsistency from redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has three 200-yard-plus games in five starts this season. He’s also completed just 59 percent of his passes. Still, Leavitt is showing progress. He threw four touchdown passes in a 35-31 win over Kansas last week after totaling only three TD passes over his first four games.
“The best thing about Sam is he’s a self-corrector,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “He can see things. He can feel what’s wrong. He can feel himself do something right, and then he can correct (mistakes) on his own.”
Arizona State leads the all-time series against Utah 22-12, but the Utes have won four straight games in the set and routed the Sun Devils 55-3 in Salt Lake City last season behind four touchdown passes from Bryson Barnes and a season-best 352 rushing yards by the team.
