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SALT LAKE CITY — From the second Cam Rising took his first snap against San Diego State in 2021, there was something different about the Texas transfer.
With an offense mired in the mud against the Aztecs on the road, the team instantly responded to the change at quarterback. Rising's presence jumpstarted the offense and gave it the spark it needed to get Utah back in the game. But his insertion into the offense he was called to lead wasn't a flash in the pan moment, it was something different.
Rising led Utah to back-to-back championships (and won), and transformed Utah's offense into one of the best in the country in 2022. More importantly, he was the guy anybody on the team could turn to in a game situation and feel at ease. Rising was under center, and that was good enough for them; it brought confidence.
All it took was Rising flashing his trademark smile, and any adversity experienced on the field could be overcome, even when the odds were sometimes stacked against Utah. The team still had its failures, but Rising gave them a chance.
"His leadership and his interaction with his teammates is beyond reproach," offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said in 2021. "You know him. His personality jives with every player, with every position group. No one is an outcast with Cam Rising. He's everyone's confidante. He's everyone's friend. They listen to him. He's not a rah-rah guy, but he's a great communicator, and being a great teammate is very important to him."
Rising still roams the sidelines and is there to participate in all the pregame warmups sessions and stretching activities, but he's not there as the field general — the guy next to you with the master plan who can lead the charge in battle. He's now on the sideline with a headset on, coaching from afar.
But it's not the same.
"It's just understanding the roles are switched," receiver Devaughn Vele said. "We can't just have the one guy that talks the entire time, it's all of us that have to start stepping up, have to get better at playing as well as being vocal leaders. So it's not much of a huge difference in regards to like who's talking, who's doing what, but it's more so understanding that the situation that we're in, we need to handle it a lot better and be able to make the most of what we have."
The team misses Rising's presence on the field, and it's noticeable to a stagnant offense that looks out of sorts.
By all accounts, Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes have had the confidence of the team, but they're not Rising and they don't have his calming experience. And while neither quarterback is trying to replicate what Rising does, it's been a different feeling without him on the field — made only worse by the continual optimism that Rising will be back on the field "soon."
Based on recent candid conversations about Rising's injury recovery, that day feels further and further away than it did when Utah's coaching staff preached optimism over the offseason that their star quarterback could be ready for the season-opener against Florida.
That optimism has long faded.
The weekly updates bring little change for a quarterback recovering from a serious knee injury, regardless of how quickly he wants to be back on the field. He's still fighting along with his teammates, but Utah has had to move on, in part, as if he wasn't there anymore. That's what makes it sting worse.
The offense hasn't clicked yet, but Vele still sees hope and a team that is trying to come together as a whole to make up for an integral part of the team.
"I don't feel like guys are necessarily turning against each other, it's more so we expect better play out of everybody, and that's what we expect as a team," Vele said. "Everybody's pushing everybody, especially on the offensive side. We've had extra meetings on the side as a unit, just talking about the things that we have to do.
"We can't expect the defense to bail us out every single time, so we understand that, we've just gotta make sure we bring our A game, and these practices are so important, finding the right guys, and the right pieces to fit into offense so we can get this rolling."
Utah needs its "Bad Moon Rising" again.
Like the meaning of the song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the hope is that Rising can bring Utah out of turmoil and trouble, and the program can see brighter days ahead. But that day remains to be seen.
In the meantime, it's up to other players on the offense to get the job done collectively to make up for the steadying reassurance that Rising brought to the field.
