Taking stock of Utah at the bye week

Through five games, it’s hard to make any sweeping conclusions about University of Utah football.
The Utes (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) have arrived at the first of two bye weeks — and it’s much needed.
Starting quarterback Cam Rising has been out of action for 3.5 of Utah’s five games thus far after suffering a dislocated finger and a laceration on his throwing hand, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, in Utah’s Week 2 win over Baylor.
It’s a very small sample size, and one of the games was against FCS opponent Southern Utah, but prior to Rising’s injury, Utah’s offense was looking like it could perhaps come close to living up to its preseason potential.
In a little less than four total quarters of play, Rising threw for 346 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions and looked mostly back to his old self while playing for the first time since the 2023 Rose Bowl.
But after he was pushed out of bounds and into a large table that held Gatorade coolers leading to the hand injury, Utah’s season changed on a dime.
Just like 2023 — except this time with a less severe injury — Rising’s status watch has been a weekly occurrence. He’s warmed up and even come out for the coin toss in each of the last three weeks, but hasn’t played a down yet.
Rising has seemingly been close to a return — Utah decided 20 minutes before the Oklahoma State game that he would be a scratch — but coaches haven’t seen him constantly throw the ball with the velocity he needs to yet.
So for the last three games, it’s been true freshman Isaac Wilson leading the Utes.
In Rising’s absence, the former Corner Canyon quarterback has thrown for 830 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. Utah didn’t plan for Wilson to get this much experience early on, but it’s been an extremely valuable learning process for the Utes’ potential quarterback of the future.
With a 2-1 record as a starter, Wilson has kept things afloat for Utah and has ensured that all of its goals are still in front of it. As you’d expect for someone five games into their college career, there’s still areas that can be improved. Wilson needs to take better care of the ball and improve his processing — all things that will get better with more snaps.
Right now, the book is out on Wilson — pressure him. Teams are blitzing Wilson at a 43.5% clip, and it worked out for Arizona in last week’s loss.
The physical talent is there — some of Wilson’s throws have been very impressive for a freshman — and all things considered, he has performed relatively well, especially when you take into account that he’s been splitting reps with Rising in practice.
Wilson has rarely been rattled — even when he throws an interception, it doesn’t seem to faze him — and he has poise that’s rare for a true freshman.
Compared to last year, when the Utes ranked No. 92 in total offense and No. 117 in passing offense, there hasn’t been as steep of a dropoff without Rising. Utah ranks No. 57 in total offense (417 yards per game) and No. 62 in passing offense (235.2 yards per game). That’s a somewhat promising sign, especially if the Utes have to continue to start Wilson.
Aside from the too-frequent turnovers, the issue with the offense, especially in last week’s loss, has been in the red zone. Utah’s 81.8% red-zone scoring rate (which includes touchdowns and field goals) ranks 87th in FBS, and the Utes are only scoring touchdowns at a 50% clip, which ranks No. 106 in the nation.
“Well, we know exactly what needs to happen. We got to be better schematically, put our kids in a better position to succeed. We got to tweak some things in practice, the way we’re going about it. We’ve got it all mapped out,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of the plan to improve the red-zone offense.
On the ground, it’s been all Micah Bernard and not much of anyone else. The senior running back has grabbed hold of RB1 status and made the most of it, rushing for 109.4 yards per game and becoming one of the most productive backs in the sport.
Despite Bernard’s prowess rushing the ball this season, Utah checks in at No. 50 in total rushing yards. Part of that is because the Utes have allowed nine sacks (sacks count against rushing yards in college), but it’s mostly because the non-Bernard running backs haven’t contributed much up to this point.
Mike Mitchell has tried his best, playing through an ankle injury, but has just 127 yards on 37 carries this season. In the last two games, the lack of secondary running back production has been highlighted — non-Bernard running backs have combined for only 28 yards in Utah’s Big 12 conference contests.
Jaylon Glover, Utah’s No. 2 back last year, has been absent since the Southern Utah game. He dressed for last week’s game but didn’t get any carries.
“Jaylon, he’s in a tough spot right now. I mean, he’s a guy that, he’s been playing here since he was a true freshman, and now his reps have kind of cut down, so he has to continue to work, continue to be humble and show that we don’t need to keep him off the field. He has to earn it,” running backs coach Quinton Ganther said in September.
As far as pass-catching options for Rising and Wilson, the good news is that Utah has a true WR1. That’s Dorian Singer, who after being lost in the mix at USC last season has embraced the spotlight in Salt Lake City.
He’s been Wilson’s favorite target and has a team-high 359 yards on 26 receptions, though he’s still waiting on his first touchdown as a Ute.
Tight end Brant Kuithe has had a productive start to the season as well — 17 catches for 269 yards and four scores — and receiver Money Parks has been a solid option with 190 yards and two scores on 14 receptions.
Aside from those three, however, there haven’t been a lot of targets to Utah’s other pass-catchers. In fact, Utah’s other tight ends and receivers have 16 total catches, while the top three players have 57.
Can the Utes get some more players involved on offense moving forward?
The offensive line has been “hot and cold,” to use Whittingham’s words, with run blocking generally being positive but struggling at times in pass protection.
The bright spot on the line has been right tackle Spencer Fano, who has made a huge leap from his freshman to sophomore year. Fano has graded out as the fifth-best offensive lineman in the nation this season, per Pro Football Focus.
Defense is typically the strength of a Utah team, and that remains the case this year. Morgan Scalley’s unit has yet to give up more than 23 points this year and has really helped out the Wilson-led offense.
There have been a few miscues this season — most notably allowing two key third-and-long conversions in crunch time against Noah Fifita and Arizona, allowing a couple of good performances from Utah State and Arizona’s running backs and too many missed tackles — but overall, the defense has been the strongest unit for the Utes.
Van Fillinger has led the way for the defensive line with 5.5 sacks, and Junior Tafuna and Keanu Tanuvasa has been solid. Utah has missed Connor O’Toole on the edge opposite Fillinger, though, and hope to get him back before facing Arizona State next Friday night.
Similarly, the linebacker unit has been missing a key player for an extended period of time, as Karene Reid exited the Baylor game with an injury.
Reid, the captain of the defense, is instrumental for the Utes, and they’ve felt his absence. Starter Lander Barton, who suffered a season-ending injury last October, still hasn’t lived up to his pre-injury highs this season, though he’s been tasked with a lot more responsibility with Reid out.
After starting cornerback Kenan Johnson went down with a season-ending injury in the first game of the season, Utah has filled in nicely with a combination of Elijah Davis and Cam Calhoun, with Smith Snowden at nickel. It’s been mostly positive for that group, though they didn’t play their best game — along with the rest of the defense — against Arizona.
Tao Johnson has made the most of his switch from nickel to safety, and has been Utah’s most consistent option at the position. Alaka’i Gilman and Nate Ritchie have each tried their hand at strong safety, and it appears, for now, it’s Gilman’s job. The Stanford transfer had a rough start to the season but has had two solid conference games.
If Utah can get O’Toole and Reid back soon and shore up the tackling issues, this defense — which already ranks in the top 20 in the nation in total yards allowed — can be even better.
Punter Jack Bouwmeester has been the lone bright spot on special teams, averaging 46.2 yards per punt, good for No. 10 in the nation. Kicker Cole Becker, who last year steadied the Utes’ kicking game after inconsistency at the position, has made only 8 of 11 field goals, with all three misses coming from 49 yards or less.
Utah’s return game has left much to be desired, with the Utes ranking No. 126 in FBS with an average of 12.25 yards per kick return and No. 112 in FBS with an average 4.23 yards per punt return.
With seven games remaining, the heart of Utah’s schedule is here. After dropping a game at home, which has been a rarity in recent years, the margin of error for the Utes is very slim.
The goal of winning the Big 12 championship is still in reach, but there’s a hard road ahead. Depending on when Rising returns, it’s going to be a challenge for the Utes to run the table with a schedule that’s shaping up to be tougher than expected, with home games against No. 16 Iowa State and No. 17 BYU and road trips to Colorado and UCF.