UCLA Football Preview: Will Utah QB Cam Rising Be Able to Play Against the Bruins?
The Bruins may need to defend against the Utes' senior who hasn't played since the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, the Utes remain depleted elsewhere.
The two-time defending Pac-12 Champion Utah Utes lost quarterback Cameron Rising to a torn ACL in the Rose Bowl Game last season and he hasn’t played a down of football since.
That is likely to change tomorrow when the UCLA Bruins open Pac-12 play against Utah in Salt Lake City. Three days ago, Josh Furlong of KSL TV and Radio posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, “He looked good.”
So, it looks like Rising will be quarterbacking the Utes tomorrow. Assuming that Rising is actually back to 100%, it will be a very good test of the Bruin defense.
UCLA will certainly have their hands full as a result, assuming that’s the case.
If Rising is unable to go or play the entire game, look for the Utes to play either junior Bryson Barnes, who started against Florida and Baylor, or redshirt freshman Nate Johnson, who played against Florida and started against Weber State, to get playing time.
Barnes played reasonably well against Florida, going 12 of 18 for 159 yards and a touchdown, but he played poorly against Baylor, completing just six of 19 pass attempts for a meager 71 yards and an interception.
Johnson has performed better overall. After going three of four for six yards against the Gators, he completed six of seven passes for 82 yards against the Bears. That earned him the start against Weber State and he went 13 of 21 for 193 yards and a touchdown. He has also run for 148 yards and three touchdowns this season.
So, my bet would be that Johnson is the guy most likely to play if Rising cannot, and the depth chart seems to indicate that, too.
Running Backs
Sophomore Ja'Quinden Jackson is the Utes’ top running back after the best returning back from last season Micah Bernard went down with a season-ending injury against Florida. So far this year, Jackson has carried 33 times for 213 yards, making him Utah’s leading rusher with an average of 6.4 yards per carry.
As mentioned above, the Utes’ second-best rusher has been Johnson. But whether it’s Johnson or Rising at quarterback, expect the Utes to have the QB running a lot. Last season, Rising was the team’s fourth-best rusher with 465 net yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
When Jackson isn’t in the game, look for sophomore Jaylon Glover. Glover has run the ball 23 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Receivers
Statistically, the best receiver for Utah is Money Parks. So far, he has eight catches for 138 yards. His two touchdown catches make him the only Ute receiver to score this year.
Utah may actually be without their best receiver overall. Tight end Brant Kuithe still hasn’t played this season and it doesn’t look like he will tomorrow either, even though he is still listed at the top of the team’s depth chart.
Instead, look for sophomore Landen King to get the start. If football had a statistic like baseball’s Wins Over Replacement (WOR), Kuithe would be off the charts because King has yet to catch a pass this season.
Freshman Mikey Matthews has made an immediate impact for the Utes. He leads the team in receptions with 10 and he’s second behind Parks in yardage with 120 yards.
Z receivers Munir McClain and Devaughn Vele are Utah’s other receivers who are making a difference. McClain has made three catches for 92 yards while Vele has four for 51 yards.
Analysis
The Utes remain very much a ground and pound team. Of 199 plays, Utah has run the ball 129 times and thrown just 70 times. That mix could change with the return of Rising, but I don’t think so. If it doesn’t, expect the Utes to run about 65% of the time and throw just 35%.
The good news about that is that it certainly plays into one of UCLA’s strengths — the Bruins’ rush defense.
Of course, Kyle Whittingham isn’t stupid. You don’t become the second-longest tenured coaches in the FBS by not adapting. I would expect the Utes to do the same thing that North Carolina Central tried to do last week — come out throwing.
It was a good strategy for a team which was expected to heavily favor the run. In NCCU’s case, they didn’t have the personnel to pull it off, but they tried. Eight of the Eagles’ first ten plays were pass plays.
Strategically, it was right thing to do. The Eagle players were just overmatched and didn’t make the plays.
I won’t be surprised to see the Utes try something similar tomorrow. Why? Because Whittingham will know what the Bruins expect to see and I suspect he will do the opposite. Can an injury-depleted Utah team pull that off at home?
That remains to be seen.
Go Bruins!!!
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