No. 14 Utah dealing with more injury issues going into home finale against Stanford

Running backs Ja’Quinden Jackson and Jaylon Glover left Saturday’s game against Arizona with injuries.

Published: Nov 6, 2022, 5:47 p.m. MST

Utah Utes running back Ja’Quinden Jackson, wearing red, is tripped up by Arizona Wildcats safety Christian Young. — Utah Utes running back Ja’Quinden Jackson (3) is tripped up by Arizona Wildcats safety Christian Young (5) as Utah and Arizona play at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

By Jeff Call

No. 14 Utah had little problem dispatching Arizona last Saturday with a 45-20 victory over the Wildcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Utes, who are battling for a second consecutive Pac-12 championship, take on last-place Stanford in their home finale Saturday (8 p.m., MST, ESPN).

Washington State throttled the Cardinal 52-14 last weekend. Stanford is 3-6 overall and 1-6 in Pac-12 play.

On Nov. 19, an epic Pac-12 weekend is expected, when Utah (7-2, 5-1) visits first-place Oregon (8-1, 6-0) while USC (8-1, 6-1) collides with crosstown rival UCLA (8-1, 5-1).

The Pac-12 championship game is scheduled for Dec. 2 in Las Vegas.

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For the Utes, that showdown with the Ducks at Autzen Stadium is sandwiched between contests against the two teams at the bottom of the conference standings — Stanford and Colorado.

Utah earned its third consecutive win last Saturday against Arizona.

Cam Rising started after being sidelined for the win over Washington State on Oct. 27. Rising completed 13 of 25 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown.

Coach Kyle Whittingham said there are reasons why Rising wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, including the rainy weather.

“Probably a little of everything. He’s still not 100%. We expect that hopefully to be there by next week,” he said. “The ball was a little slick at times, but I don’t know if that was a big deal. He was just missing some throws — throws that he usually makes 10 out of 10 times.”

The Utes ran for a season-high 306 yards. Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown and Jaylon Glover gained 69 yards.

Both left the game with injuries.

“We’ll find out more (Sunday),” Whittingham said of Jackson and Glover. “I know it was upper body with JJ and lower body with Jaylon. That’s all we can say right now.”