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SALT LAKE CITY — I'm not sure if this is out there yet, but Cam Rising will return to the University of Utah as a seventh-year senior in 2024.
We will (predictably) start this Utes mailbag right there.
Q: "Who takes the most reps at QB in the 2024 spring game?" - @801_Ute
Let's let the offseason and possible additions and subtractions to the QB room play out, but do you want to know who will absolutely not have the most reps at the 2024 spring game?
Rising.
Let's cautiously assume that he is ready to go for spring. Fine, go through spring, take the No. 1 reps during practice, get to the spring game healthy, then take the first series, maybe the first two, and have a seat until late July.
I won't even entertain an argument the other day.
In a vacuum, let's say no one transfers and the room is what it is. You have to believe Brandon Rose is going to get another real shot to prove what he can do. Remember, last season was derailed by injury, but he's healthy now, and optimism remains pretty high that he can be this program's quarterback once Rising's career is over.
Q: "What's the latest on Brant Kuithe?" - @insureutah
Let's call it a holding pattern, and frankly, this one is under a pretty strong lock and key based on some conversations the last few days.
Kyle Whittingham said Monday that Kuithe has not yet expressed what he will do for 2024. Like Rising, Kuithe has the option to for a seventh year via medical redshirt, which the NCAA would have to approve, but it should be a formality after Kuithe didn't play a snap this season.
Like we have done in regards to Rising plenty in the past, here are just a few things to consider with Kuithe. He will turn 24 on Dec. 14 and has been in college now for six years. He flirted with the NFL after the 2020 season, then flirted a lot harder following the 2021 season before opting to return in 2022. Like Rising, NIL is going to play a significant role in Kuithe's decision.
You didn't ask me for my opinion, but NIL aside, I think it benefits Kuithe to return. He hasn't played in over a year, and it will be almost two when next season begins. He could use some fresh film and show himself to be healthy if he hopes to at least get a crack at the NFL.
Q: "What are your top-3 and bottom-3 Thanksgiving Day foods?" - @UteLocal
Holiday food rankings are always a divisive topic, and I expect this to be no different.
TOP 3
1. Stuffing: I don't care which you make or how you make it, I'm eating it.
2. Mashed potatoes: Childhood favorite, still love it. I like my gravy brown and thick, thank you.
3. Bourbon pecan pie: Off-the-beaten path, not everyone's vibe. My wife makes a tremendous one.
Almost famous: Green bean casserole. I am a late adopter of this side dish. It's fantastic, and I spent too many years being scared of it.
BOTTOM 3
1. Cranberry sauce: I tried, I really did.
2. Yams: I'm still not entirely sure what a yam is. It's a sweet potato, right? Am I close?
3. Turkey: May be the star of the table, but it's quite useless if the sides are awesome.
I'm hungry. Thanks a lot, @UteLocal
Q: "Does Rising finally get a spring ball with Utah?" - @redslc1012
I'll give it to you here. Based on, not just the amount of injuries Rising has dealt with, but the nature of the injuries, it does sort of feel like Rising never gets the benefit of spring, but that is technically not accurate.
- 2019: Full participant (Later denied NCAA eligibility waiver in June).
- 2020: Full participant until COVID-19 shut spring practice down.
- 2021: Missed all of spring practice while recovering from shoulder surgery
- 2022: Full participant, played one series in spring game.
- 2023: Missed all of spring practice while recovering from knee surgery.
- 2024: TBD.
I asked Kyle Whittingham Monday morning during his normal weekly press conference if he expects Rising to be ready for the start of spring practice, whose start date is TBD. Whittingham indicated he did expect Rising to be ready, but hedged, going back to the fact that Rising's medical recovery and timeline are not up to him, but rather the doctors.
For what it's worth, by the time spring practice begins, Rising will be roughly 13 months removed from major knee surgery.
Furthermore, if you find it even a little bit odd that I would ask Whittingham if he expects Rising to be ready for spring after all this time has passed since the injury, well, frankly, you may have slept through the months of August, September, and most of October.
Q: "What do you think the chances are of Isaac Wilson transferring before he gets a shot at the job?" - @tuahomer
Are you serious with this?
To the people who chimed in asking if Wilson was going to decommit in the wake of Rising opting to return, honest question: What?
Wilson will come to Utah next year after having undergone offseason knee surgery, so even if Rising had not returned and the job was up for grabs beginning this spring, it stands to reason that Wilson was not going to get to a point where he could win the job. Forget the fact that a true freshman coming in healthy would have an incredibly tough time winning the job.
Putting aside possible departures or arrivals involving Utah's QB room, the first crack Wilson will have at QB1 is during spring practice in 2025, at which time he will be either a redshirt freshman or a true sophomore.
If I am comprehending this question correctly, you're asking if I think Wilson would transfer out after 2024, a season in which the starter (Rising) is rightfully unquestioned, and he is in no position to compete at a sufficient-enough level coming off knee surgery?
Honestly, I have been doing this job long enough where very, very little surprises me anymore, but that scenario would probably blow me away, that there would be that little patience with the process to just up and leave at that time.
This question also demands that we project what the QB room looks like in 2025. Brother, look around you. We don't have any idea yet what the room will look like in 2024, let alone 2025.
Q: "Do thicker pizzas (Chicago style, Detroit style) take a larger role in the winter months? Which, of course, would mean thin crust pizza dominates the summer lineups? These are your readers" - @yoburnersburner
Eating more, or eating heartier meals when it's cold outside vs. eating lighter meals in the summer when it's hotter outside is definitely a thing.
Thicker pizzas in cold weather vs. thinner pizzas in the summer is decidedly not a thing. This topic, though, did have me thinking about winter beers vs. summer beers. What beer drinkers perceive as winter beers include red/dark ales, doppelbocks, porters, stouts, etc. They are an acquired taste, and I generally do not care for them, but I digress.
I do not shun certain pizzas based on the weather forecast, but I will say, you really have to be in the right frame of mind to attack some Chicago or Detroit-style pizza. Chicago, especially, is heavy, and thick, and greasy, and offers a certain level of fullness that is often uncomfortable.
A thinner-crust pizza is more manageable at more times of day, with less thought of how this is going to affect the remainder of my day if I overdo it.
Yup, these are my readers.
Q: "This season has been a lot. I'm tired and burnt out. Why should I tune into the Colorado game and bowl game? Of course I'm going to watch them, I'm just not excited about it." - @UtahPuntTeam
I feel this, I really do.
This season has indeed been a lot, and that has plenty to do with how the Rising stuff played out. More specifically, the front-facing, public messaging from Kyle Whittingham from the beginning of fall camp, through the month of August, and into all of September until finally, Rising shed some light on ESPN 700 as to how bad the injury was.
It became very apparent as time went on that there was a significant breakdown in communication among the important parties that needed to be communicating.
When Whittingham announced after the USC win that Rising and Kuithe would be shut down for the season, it would have been exceptionally rude and unprofessional to roll my eyes, but just know, that is what I wanted to do. Credit to me for being an adult and not doing that.
You're going to watch, but you're not excited about it. I don't blame you. All of the extracurricular nonsense is compounded by a 7-4 record and no trip to the Pac-12 championship game. In terms of preseason goals, this season is, for all intents and purposes over, but I do have some motivation for you.
Colorado is coming to town, which means Deion Sanders will be on the sideline at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Non-zero chance he does or says something worth talking about, and then, well, we get to talk about it.
I don't know, that's all I got, which I suppose helps make your point.
Q: "Will acclimating to all the novel stadiums/atmospheres be a significant hurdle for the team? They knew what to expect after years of traveling the Pac-12. Now there's Ames, Lawrence, Stillwater, etc. In other words, I fear many scary Big 12 "Pullmans" await." - @MJ_Pushedov
Yeah, fair question.
This crossed my mind a while back as a potential factor in Utah's transition to the Big 12, having to deal with flights to new locales, new stadiums, new atmospheres, new everything really, In 2024 for example, the Utes will play Big 12 road games at Houston, Oklahoma State and UCF, three programs they have not played in modern college football times.
Yeah, I think there is a little something to be said for how the newness might affect things, but ultimately, it's probably not worth getting worked up over.
Utah, of course, charters flights, so OK, you're chartering to new places. Big deal, it isn't as if the traveling party will have to navigate the terminal at Stillwater Regional Airport. The Utes will keep flying on Friday, or in the case of UCF, Thursday since Orlando is two time zones away.
As for the Big 12 version of Pullman, I am not well-traveled in Big 12 Country, but I have been to Lawrence and Morgantown, and I can tell you neither is Pullman-esque. Orlando, Provo, Tucson, Tempe, and Boulder aren't it, either. Stillwater? Ames? Manhattan?
I'm sure someone will step up and offer some Pullman vibes, which, honestly, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
