Utah Beat Writer Answers Five Questions About the No. 16 Utes

Cal plays a road game against 16th-ranked Utah on Saturday afternoon, so we asked Eric Walden, who covers the Utes for the Salt Lake Tribune, to answer five questions about the Utah football program.

--1. Cam Rising last week revealed the extent of his knee injury he suffered in last season’s Rose Bowl, and Kyle Whittingham said this week he knows whether Rising will play against Cal but is not revealing that publicly. Do you expect Rising to play against Cal? If not, do you expect him to play this season?

“I think he will not [play] against Cal; I think he will [play] at some point this season,” Walden said in the video atop this article.

“It’s been kind of a curious situation at quarterback all year. The coaching staff said basically from fall camp they thought there was a chance Cam might be starting for the opener against Florida. They went as far as calling it a game-time decision.”

Walden noted that the Utah coaches don’t have the final say on whether Rising plays; his surgeon has the final say. So even though Rising was getting 50% of the first-team work during practice each week, the coaches didn’t know until the end of the week whether Rising would play. This week they got the information at the start of the week, so Whittingham knows whether Rising will play against Cal, but he’s not saying.

“I think it’s probably unlikely [Rising] goes this weekend. I suppose you never know. I tend to think they’ll probably be a little conservative. I think Nate Johnson will probably be the guy that the Bars have to contend with.”

–2. How has Kyle Whittingham been able to produce Pac-12 title contenders consistently despite not having the most highly rated recruiting classes?

“They’ve been getting better in the recruiting classes, but you’re right, they certainly are not competing with the Georgias, Alabamas or the Texas A&Ms or the USCs of the world. They aren’t getting that level of player to commit on a consistent basis.

“So it basically comes down to recruiting guys they know will fit their system. Utah’s bread and butter remains the running game and defense. Kyle is very much an old-school type of coach.”

That, says Walden, puts them in every game and puts them in position to win..

“They also look for guys who they think are going to outperform those ratings,” said Walden.

Utah figures time and development can turn those people into quality players. Walden uses the example of defensive end Jonah Elliss.

--3. How good is Utah’s defense? Is it the best in Whittingham’s time at Utah?

“It’s right up there. It’s either first or second. The 2018 defense is one that had a lot of big-name defensive players. … As quality as [this year’s defense] has been to this point, I don’t think they’ve reached their potential yet just because they’ve had a lot of guys, especially on the defensive line, who were projected to have big roles but we really haven’t seen yet [because of injuries].

“Where they’ve really excelled is defending the run and shutting down teams on third downs.”

But Walden says they’d like to improve in putting pressure of the quarterback and forcing turnovers, categories the Utes’ defense has not been as good as it’s been in the past.

--4. Why is Utah so successful at home, besides the fact that it has had good teams?

“Maybe altitude has something to do with it,” Walden said. “That said, Salt Lake City is 1,500 feet closer to sea level than Denver, so I don’t know how much that really plays a factor.”

He says it just may be the crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium, which is 4,637 feet above sea level. That venue has been expanded to a capacity of about 51,444 and is always sold-out with passionate fans. Utah has had 79 consecutive home sellouts.

--5. Who have been the best couple players on Utah’s offense and defense, and why have they been so good?

Walden picks out defensive end Jonah Elliss and safety Cole Bishop on defense, and on offense he points to Cam Rising, redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson (“a former track star”) and Ja’Quinden Jackson, who has been slowed by injuries.

Cover photo of Cameron Rising by Rob Gray, USA TODAY Sports

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