The Utah football team needs its leader back on the field sooner rather than later. QB Cam Rising still has yet to play in 2023 after tearing his ACL in last year's Rose Bowl. The Utes have held their own in Rising's absence, starting 4-0 and picking up impressive wins over Florida and UCLA. Their luck ran out on Friday however, with a 21-7 loss to Oregon State. Kyle Whittingham finally let his frustration seep through when asked what is preventing Rising's return on Tuesday. “You have to ask his doctor,” Whittingham said.

Rising's orthopedic surgeon is Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who recently performed an innovative SpeedBridge procedure on Aaron Rodgers' Achilles. Apparently, ElAttrache has the final word on when Rising can return to the field, overriding the Utah football medical and coaching staffs. Whittingham seems to be running out of patience however, and it seems like he doesn't really understand what the hold up is.

“We hope to know early next week, rather than later in the week what the situation is,” Whittingham said. “I think one of the problems is we've been waiting until the end of the week, but we're going to get an answer early next week as to who's going to go.”

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Utah's offense was completely incompetent against Oregon State. Before that game, the Utes had been able to rely on the run game and their physicality. However, Oregon State's front seven proved too formidable, and without the ability to throw the ball, Utah was handcuffed.

Luckily, Utah doesn't play this week, and they play an inferior opponent in Cal the following week. Kyle Whittingham's squad can survive that game without Rising. After that, they face USC and Oregon in consecutive games. With one conference loss on the record already, Utah needs Cam Rising back before the USC game to preserve their chances to win the Pac-12.