Isaac Wilson gets first-ever start for Utah as Cam Rising sits with injury

True freshman Isaac Wilson made his first start as a Ute on Saturday, starting at quarterback for No. 12 Utah as it took on Utah State in Logan.
Cam Rising, who was injured late in the first half in last week’s 23-12 win over Baylor, was out for Saturday’s game, watching from the sideline.
Ahead of the Utes’ first game against the Aggies in Logan since 2012, Rising went through early warmups with the Utes with tape on the ring finger on the right hand, his throwing hand, taped. When Utah emerged from the locker room for padded warmups, Rising was in full uniform and went through his pregame routine with a glove on his right hand for some portions.
Last week, Rising hurt a finger on his right hand during the second quarter of Utah’s 23-12 win over Baylor after being pushed into Gatorade coolers on Baylor’s sideline. He went to the locker room for further evaluation on his right hand before spending the second half in street clothes on Utah’s sideline with his middle and ring fingers taped together.
According to a report from Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Rising is expected to be back for Utah’s marquee Big 12 Conference opener against No. 13 Oklahoma State, who beat Tulsa 45-10 next Saturday.
Linebacker Karene Reid also was out with injury against Utah State.
Though it was Wilson’s first start, it wasn’t his first action as a Ute — he played in a little more than a half in each of Utah’s two wins this season with a combined stat line of 104 passing yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while completing 11 of 20 passes.
Against Baylor, Wilson completed 4 of 9 passes for 30 yards as the Utes were content to run the ball for the vast majority of the second half, limit turnovers, and trust their defense — which was playing well — to help deliver the win.
“I thought he played better last week than he did the previous week, the last game and had more command, had more confidence, looked like he played with more confidence and I think that he came in and held down the fort for us,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Wilson, the brother of former BYU and current Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, is in his first year at Utah. The former four-star quarterback from Corner Canyon graduated high school early in order to arrive on campus in Salt Lake City ahead of spring practices. The 6-foot, 202-pound signal-caller beat out sophomore Brandon Rose and senior transfer Sam Huard in fall camp and was named Rising’s backup.
“I think he’s going to continue to get better,” Whittingham said. “We certainly believe that and we have a lot of confidence in him.”