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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah may have one more regular season game to play Saturday vs. Colorado, plus a to-be-determined bowl next month, but much of the focus is beginning to shift to 2024, and with good reason.
Cam Rising announced Sunday afternoon via a 27-second video on X that he intends to return for a seventh and final season in 2024. Rising, who has not played a snap this season after suffering a significant knee injury in the Rose Bowl, has to be awarded a medical redshirt via the NCAA in order to play next season, but that process is expected to be a formality.
"Huge," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said Monday. "Going forward for our program, that's a huge component to our team. That'll help in recruiting, it'll help maybe a few guys that are on the fence — 'Do I come out? Do I stay?' — Maybe a few of those guys decide to return because of that.
"Cam has to be one of the best, if not the best, returning quarterbacks in the country. Won two (Pac-12) championships for us, ultimate leader, the supreme leader, he is the Alpha Dog, and I can't tell you how excited and elated we are, but it's going to be a great start and a big part of our outlook on next year's season."
Rising is not expected to address the local media until after bowl prep has begun.
With Rising now in the fold for 2024, Whittingham's notion of his return potentially swaying members of the current roster to stick around for another year will receive increased attention.
Like Rising, All-Pac-12 tight end Brant Kuithe has not played a snap this season after injuring his knee 14 months ago. He, like Rising, can return for a seventh and final season via medical redshirt. Whittingham indicated Monday that Kuithe, who flirted with the NFL after the 2020 and 2021 seasons, has not decided what he intends to do.
Two more offensive players that now bear watching in the wake of Rising's announcement are a pair of fifth-year juniors, wide receiver Devaughn Vele and running back Micah Bernard.
Vele has 43 catches for 593 yards and three touchdowns, but the bulk of that production has come only in the last month, which coincides with Bryson Barnes taking over as the full-time starter at quarterback. In 2022 with Rising at the helm, Vele broke out, finishing with 55 catches for 695 yards and five scores, all team-leads for a wide receiver.
Bernard was lost for the season to a non-football injury just days after Utah opened the season Aug. 31 with a win over Florida. Bernard, the Utes' most-versatile running back, would be a sixth-year senior in 2024; although, given the timing of his injury, he could also qualify for a medical redshirt and get this season back.
How it all plays out remains to be seen, but Bernard on Sunday fired off a since-deleted tweet indicating he was at least considering returning in 2024.
"Cam wants to play in the NFL, and I feel he's perfectly suited for that," Whittingham said. "Coming back and proving that he's healthy again and can perform at the same level, I think, and I think he thinks as well. I'm not trying to speak for him that it gives him an opportunity to prove that he belongs and that he's one of the elite quarterbacks in the country.
"I think he has a good taste for our program and enjoys it here. He's very popular with his teammates, very popular with the community, plus a new challenge in the Big 12 that's exciting, too."
No matter what Rising decided to do, there was going to be a profound effect on the rest of the position group at Utah. Whittingham expects Rising to be ready for spring practice, but could not promise it on Monday. Either way, he will be the unquestioned starter, which means it will be another season of nobody else starting.
To that end, how much patience does the rest of the room have?
Brandon Rose will be a third-year freshman in 2024, having never taken a collegiate snap; Nate Johnson will be a redshirt sophomore who started three games this season and played in four others; Barnes has two years of eligibility left; and former four-star recruit Mack Howard will be a redshirt freshman.
Highly-touted true freshman Isaac Wilson, who just led Corner Canyon High to the Utah 6A championship Friday, is on the way in, but will arrive having had offseason knee surgery.
"The quarterback room has a way of settling itself and thinning itself out, so I would say no, I don't think it'll be too crowded," Whittingham said. "I think natural attrition, and with that being the most-volatile position in football, I think that it will sort itself out and we won't have to make any tough decisions."
