The Utah faithful have been waiting over a year for the resurgence of star quarterback Cam Rising after injuring his knee in the 2023 Rose Bowl. The wait finally came to a halt on Thursday, as Rising and the Utah Utes took the field in Rice Eccles Stadium for the first time as a member of the Big 12. Rising showed no signs of rust as he absolutely dominated the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, putting up 254 yards and five touchdowns through the air in just one half of action. Utah ran away with the game early and eventually won 49-0.

First Half 

It was the Utah defense that took the field first vs. in-state opponent Southern Utah. Despite an early Thunderbird first down, the Utes’ defense prevailed, forcing a punt and allowing Rising to trot out on the field for the first time since tearing his ACL over a year ago.

Utah’s initial offensive drive saw Rising waste no time picking up right where he left off two seasons ago. Rising showed off his legs early in the drive, scrambling for 11 yards on first-and-10 and following that up three plays later, finding Dijon Stanley on a wheel route for a 64-yard touchdown. Utah took the lead, 7-0.

The second quarter began, and Utah showed no signs of slowing down as a Rising 29-yard pass up the seam to Brant Kuithe capped off an 8-play 67-yard drive, helping the Utes extend their lead to 14-0.

Despite the fireworks from the Utah offense early on in this matchup, the Ute defense was a huge storyline in the first half. A combination sack from Logan Fano and Conner O’Toole on third-and-9 helped set up the offense with great field position as Utah looked to build on their lead.

Drive number three for the Utes continued to feature the Rising to Kuithe connection. An 11-yard catch and run from the dynamic senior tight end was followed up by a breakdown in Southern Utah’s coverage that Rising was able to take advantage of. Once again, Kuithe was able to waltz into the end zone untouched, this time for the 18-yard score, leaving the Utes on top, 21-0.

Utah’s defense was absolutely dominant in the first half, allowing just 84 yards of total offense and forcing five Southern Utah punts. As the Utes defense continued to stack together steps, Rising and the offense proceeded to capitalize.

The penultimate offensive drive for Utah resulted in another Stanley touchdown as he once again showed off his game-breaking speed, taking another wheel route to the house this time on a 79-yard catch and run. Stanley, who tallied just 26 total yards all of last season, finished the first half with three catches, 150 yards, and two touchdowns.

“It felt excellent; that was my first collegiate touchdown, and not only that, it was my first touchdown in the red,” Stanley, with a big smile across his face, said. “That was the biggest moment of my life — almost.”

The final scoring drive for Utah chewed up 5:34 as the Utes drove down the field with ease like a knife through hot butter. Kuithe capped off his enormous half by catching an out from Rising and muscling his way through two Thunderbird defenders for his third touchdown of the half. The touchdown to Kuithe gave Rising his career-high fifth touchdown on the night, which helped Utah cruise into halftime with a comfortable 28-0 lead.

Second Half 

The second half was headlined by freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson as he took over for Rising. Wilson showed some flashes of greatness but struggled adjusting to the speed of the game, throwing two interceptions.

The Utah defense continued to dominate, however, as Elijah Davis intercepted Southern Utah quarterback Jackson Berry, setting up the Utah offense at their own 43-yard line. Despite Wilson’s struggles, he was able to take advantage of the field position and lead a 12-play touchdown drive capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run off the left edge by Mike Mitchell, giving Utah a 42-0 lead.

Both offenses fell flat heading into the fourth quarter until Wilson got the opportunity to avenge his second interception of the evening after a shanked punt by the Thunderbirds. With 11.05 to play in the fourth, Wilson lofted a beautiful goal line fade to Caleb Lohner in the back of the end zone, extending the Ute lead to 49-0. The Wilson-Lohner connection was a rare occurrence, as both players scored their first of many collegiate touchdowns on the play.

Defensively, the Utes allowed just 150 total yards of total offense all game en route to their first shutout since 2019. Van Fillinger led the defense with two sacks on the night as he is back to full strength after playing through an injury last season.

“When Scally is happy, everyone is happy, so that’s all we could ask for,” Fillinger said about the energy on the defensive sideline after securing the shutout.

Utah eventually closed this game out 49-0 as they look to carry over this momentum into next week’s matchup against Baylor.

Analysis

Undoubtedly, Utah kicked off their first game of the Big 12 era with a pen to the record books. Late in the second quarter, Rising marked his personal best in touchdown passes, bringing up the count from 46 to 51. This number makes him the fourth all-time Ute in touchdown passes, putting him just behind Travis Wilson, Brian Johnson and Scott Mitchell.

Tonight’s game also marks the first five-touchdown game since 2014, a feat completed by Travis Wilson. Not to mention those five touchdowns were also completed in only the first half, which hasn’t been done since 2008 by Johnson.

Kuithe also etched his name in the book by becoming the first tight end to record three touchdowns in a single half in Big-12 history, concluding an impressive comeback following a year-long absence due to injury.

“Honestly, I don’t really care,” Kuithe said about his achievement. “I just want to win games, whatever it takes. Score touchdowns, it doesn’t matter, I just want to win.”

In terms of yards, Stanley led the Utes with 150 receiving yards, with over half of those yards coming from his 79-yard touchdown run in the first half. He also led the Utes in rushing yards, completing 35 just ahead of Micah Bernard’s 33. Rising completed his record-breaking first half with a total of 254 yards, out of Utah’s 328 total.

With this impressive shut out under their belt, Utah looks forward to next weekend’s face off against the Baylor Bears, who the Utes narrowly beat last year in Waco.

“Baylor physically played us right down to the wire last year,” Head Coach Kyle Whittingham said in a post-game press conference. “It’ll be a tough challenge this week.”

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