No. 14 Utah holds off Washington State with backup QB Bryson Barnes

PULLMAN, Wash. — Thursday night games in the Pac-12 tend to get weird.

And No. 14 Utah's Thursday night road matchup against the Washington State Cougars was exactly that.

As Utah's offense trotted onto the field to start the game Thursday night, it was missing one key component. Starting quarterback Cam Rising was standing on the sidelines with his pads on but he had a yellow jersey on indicating he was not going to be a contributor to the offense other than holding a clipboard and wearing a headset.

Rising went through all the pregame stretches and drills, and even took the first-team snaps in warmups. But on his right knee was a brace and there was a subtle limp in his step. The injury came during Utah's game against USC two weeks ago, but the quarterback hadn't fully healed from the injury it seemed.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said Rising decided about 30 minutes before the game kicked off that he "didn't feel like he was right." He added that it was Rising's decision to make and the team respected that.

"If Cam says he can't play, he can't play," Whittingham said. "There's no questioning him whatsoever, no doubting him whatsoever. He's the last guy that wants to miss a game."

Rising's absence meant backup quarterback Bryson Barnes, who is still not on scholarship, got the start for the Utes in a must-win game to maintain conference title aspirations alive.

"Obviously, I knew what was at stake, but you've just got to be prepared, treat every game the exact same," Branes said. "And especially right now, we've got to keep things rolling, especially when we've got new guys coming in, new faces on the field. We've just got to be able to keep the ball rolling and keep getting these wins."

And while Barnes wasn't perfect in his first collegiate start, he did enough to lead Utah to a 21-17 victory on the road against Washington State. It was the true definition of survive and advance with Utah digging deep into its depth chart.

Barnes finished the night for Utah (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12) with 175 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions for an offense that totaled 344 yards.

But Rising wasn't the only absence on the field for the Utes. Running back Tavion Thomas did not travel with the team for reasons that Whittingham had previously said would be dealt with internally, and backup running back Micah Bernard was not expected to go due to injury but then was on the field suited up during the pregame warmups.

Bernard's touches were limited — he finished with 1 yard on three carries — as freshman Jaylon Glover and former quarterback Ja'Quinden Jackson filled in as the primary backs for the Utes. The duo combined for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Jackson had a costly fumble late in the game to give Washington State (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) prime field position.

The Cougars couldn't get much out of the turnover, though, and settled for a 42-yard field goal.

And Barnes did just enough to milk the remaining 4:48 left on the clock, which included a handful of key plays like Devaughn Vele's outstretched 10-yard catch for a first down on third-and-long, and a holding penalty on fourth down that wiped out a Washington State interception in the final minute.

"A gutsy performance by guys, found a way to win, which is obviously the bottom line," Whittingham said. "Proud of Bryson Barnes — came in a pretty tough situation and performed well. He did a good job running the offense. We weren't as prolific offensively, obviously, as we've been some games this year."

Washington State was the first team to strike when quarterback Cam Ward aired the ball out on a 29-yard toss to De'Zhaun Stribling to start the second quarter. Clark Phillips III was on the coverage but tripped, giving Ward a wide-open target to hit Stribling for the easy score.

Ward was mostly effective with his passing Thursday night and accounted for 222 of the team's 264 yards of total offense on an impressive 27-of-31 passing. The Cougars moved the ball and got close to scoring several times in the game, but Utah's defense held up and kept Washington State out of the end zone until the start of the fourth quarter.

It's what Whittingham called the "key to the game."

After a relatively quiet season in the backfield, Utah totaled four sacks on the night to limit much of what Washington State tried to do. But the Cougars continued to fight to make it a close game.

It took Utah until the 10-minute mark in the second quarter before they got into the red zone, but it paid off when Jackson rushed for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Utes their first score of the night.

Glover found the end zone at the end of the quarter on a 2-yard run after the Cougars were called for a targeting penalty to keep Utah's drive alive with 30 seconds left to play in the half. It was enough to give the Utes a 14-7 lead at the halftime.

Dalton Kincaid had the third and final score of the night for the Utes — a 5-yard catch late in the third quarter — but came up from the score with an injury to his right shoulder. Utah's training staff took him to the medical tent where he was looked at, but he never returned to action and remained on the sidelines with his helmet off and eventually wore a sling.

Whittingham said Kincaid's injury, among others, is still "real early" in the process to know the extent of it severity and whether it will keep him out for an extended period.

Utah gets a couple extra days before it welcomes Arizona to town next Saturday. The game time has not yet been set since the television networks have held it for a six-day decision.

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