The Utah Utes face off against UCLA Bruins in a top-10 college football matchup this weekend and Cam Rising looks to play his first game of the season. Utah has been able to beat Florida, Baylor, and Weber State this season with Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes switching duties during each game.
While Weber State was a tune-up opponent and Florida/Baylor have had their own issues this season, it is still impressive that they have been able to start undefeated.
Rising is recovering from the ACL tear he suffered in last season's Rose Bowl loss. As of this moment, it's very unclear if the star QB will be able to play in this game. For what's it worth, Utah's head coach said that Rising looked good today in practice.
Is Cam Rising playing this week? Utah injury report vs. UCLA
Brett McMurphy of The Action Network has said that Rising "appears" ready to return this week. McMurphy is an extremely reliable source but this report does not 100 percent indicate that he will come back. Additionally, Rising will not be the only player on injury watch for the Utes this week.
UCLA has looked really dominant in their three victories over three teams that have looked solid in their other games. They have not faced a team that is above average so far but they have taken care of business. If Rising is not able to play in this game, Utah will need to follow the same script they did in the Baylor game.
In that game, the Utes held the ball for more than 36 minutes. This means that Ja' Quinden Jackson will need to average more than 3 yards per carry on heavy work. Nate Johnson will also need to show out in short-yardage situations as a scrambler. As the Utes have done this before, this is a winnable script for the team.
It is also possible that Utah will be able to hold Dante Moore who is an 18-year-old freshman and has never faced an in-conference defense in his collegiate career. To be fair to Moore, he may struggle under the spotlight due to the fact that he is so young.
