No doubt, Utah’s offense is relying heavily on quarterback Cam Rising — both as a thrower and a runner.
For example, in the Utes’ 43-42 victory over USC, Rising completed 29 of 43 passes for 415 yards and two touchdowns; he also rushed 11 times for 60 yards and three TDs.
Is coach Kyle Whittingham concerned about how many passes Rising is attempting?
“Well, if he completes as many as he did and throws for 400 yards, we’d love to do that every week. I wouldn’t say that’s a negative,” he said. “There’s more than one way to win a game. Some weeks, it’s just pound the rock and rush for 200 yards. (The game against USC) wasn’t one of those. We had to score and score in bunches so we leaned more on the throw game.”
Rising, meanwhile, loves to air it out.
“I’ll throw as many times as they let me,” he said.
As far as Rising’s running, Whittingham is comfortable with him rushing as much as necessary.
“Yeah, because he’s doing a pretty good job of absorbing some of those hits and not taking some of them by getting out of harm’s way,” he said. “He’s (having) eight to 12 carries a game, whether it’s by design or breaking the pocket on a scramble. Like clockwork, he gives us that 50 to 80 yards of run production. Many of those runs are in critical situations, as evidenced by (the win over USC).”
Utes on the air
No. 14 Utah (5-2, 3-1)
at Washington State (4-3, 1-3)
Thursday, 8 p.m. MDT
Gesa Field
TV: FS1
Radio: ESPN 700