Utah quarterback Cam Rising left the game late in the second quarter of Saturday’s 23-12 win over Baylor University with a hand injury and did not return.
The injury occurred after Rising was pushed into a water cooler on the Baylor sideline, which did not result in a roughing the passer penalty, and was later seen standing on the sideline in street clothes with tape on the ring and middle fingers of his right hand.
After the win, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he couldn’t say anything definitive about whether the Rising will be able to play in next week’s game against Utah State, but he didn’t seem too worried.
“I was told it wasn’t that serious,” Whittingham said. “What I know now is it wasn’t that serious. I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but he may be back this week. We’ll see.”
Rising completed 8 of 14 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns before being ejected and Utah led 23-0. In his place, freshman Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of NFL quarterback Zach Wilson, completed 4 of 9 passes for 40 yards.
Rising, a seventh-grader, suffered a serious knee injury in last season’s Rose Bowl and missed all of last year.
Rising’s return from injury this year was a big reason Utah entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Big 12 Conference in its first year in the conference. He led Utah to Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022 and was named to the conference’s first team in 2021.