No. 14 Utes to shut down Rising for rest of season
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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — Following a dramatic 36-34 victory over USC on Saturday night, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham announced that starting quarterback Cam Rising, who has not played all season, will be shut down for the rest of the year.
Rising, who has led Utah to back-to-back Pac-12 titles, injured his knee during last year’s Rose Bowl and had to undergo surgery to repair what the senior quarterback later referred to as a torn meniscus, MPFL and MCL along with a torn ACL.
“I wasn’t really expecting to do this, but I just want to let everybody know I didn’t just tear my ACL,” Rising told ESPN 700 earlier this season. “It was a big surgery and it’s not an easy comeback. I’ve been working my tail off.”
Both Rising and Utah had expressed optimism about the senior quarterback being able to play this season despite a long road of recovery since the injury. But while Whittingham said after the Utes’ season opener that Rising had been cleared to practice with the team, last year’s Pac-12 Championship MVP has never appeared close to returning.
“I’m trying to make sure I can be out there because nobody wants to be out there on the field grinding with those guys more than me,” Rising said. “But at the end of the day, it’s my body. My body has to recover.”
With Rising on the sidelines, Utah has relied on both Bryson Barnes and freshman Nate Johnson to take on the snaps under center. The tandem has led the Utes to a 6-1 start. After beginning the year with a two-quarterback system, Whittingham handed Johnson the reins for a few games before most recently turning to Barnes, who shined against USC Saturday.
The junior threw for 235 yards against the Trojans’ defense, adding three touchdowns as well as 57 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown to boot. Barnes also clinched the game for the Utes by scrambling for a 23-yard gain late in the fourth quarter that allowed Utah kicker Cole Becker to make the 38-yard field goal as time expired.
“They got themselves a Heisman Trophy winner. We got a pig farmer,” Whittingham said, referring to Barnes’ background. The longtime Utes coach also called the win one of his top-5 ever.
While it remains unclear whether Rising, who has been in college since 2018, will return for a seventh year. Whittingham also added on Saturday night that tight end Brant Kuithe, who has also been recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last season, will be shut down for the rest of the year as well.
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Eli Lederman
No. 22 Missouri will be without star tight end Brett Norfleet (shoulder) when the Tigers host undefeated No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday in Columbia.
Norfleet, a junior from O’Fallon, Missouri, has started in each of the Tigers’ eight games this fall and enters Week 11 leading all SEC tight ends with five touchdown receptions. His 26 catches on the season rank third-most among Missouri pass catchers, trailing only wide receivers Kevin Coleman Jr. and Marquis Johnson.
Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz told reporters that Norflett sustained a separated shoulder in Missouri’s 17-10 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 25. Drinkwitz later described Norfleet as “day-to-day” during the Tigers’ bye in Week 10, and the veteran tight end was listed as questionable in Missouri’s student-athlete availability report Thursday night.
Norfleet’s absence comes with Drinkwitz and the two-loss Tigers essentially facing a playoff elimination game against the Aggies on Saturday. Missouri will also be without starting quarterback Beau Pribula in Week 11 after the Penn State transfer dislocated his ankle at Vanderbilt. Freshman Matt Zollers, ESPN’s No. 6 pocket passer in the 2025 class, is set to make his first career start Saturday, facing Texas A&M coach Mike Elko and an Aggies defense that ranks 18th nationally in defensive pressures (137), per ESPN Research.
“For our team, it’s really about us focusing on helping Matt execute at the highest level possible,” Drinkwitz said this week. “We’re excited about Matt’s opportunity and what he’s earned. He has done a really good job in practice of leadership, stepping up, embracing the moment, embracing the opportunity.”
Missouri (6-2) kicks off against Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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Jake Trotter
Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards has left the Wildcats and is expected to enter the transfer portal, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Edwards has been hampered by injuries this season and has played in just four games. He has only 34 carries for 205 yards.
In 2024, Edwards finished with 546 rushing yards while averaging 7.4 yards per carry with seven total touchdowns.
He began his career in 2023 at Colorado before transferring to K-State.
The Wildcats (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) are off this weekend.
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