Utah will be without yet another quarterback for the rest of the 2024 season.
Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said Tuesday night that Brandon Rose would miss the rest of the season. Rose made the first start of his career in BYU's controversial 22-21 win over Utah in Week 11 but suffered a lower leg injury in the loss. Coach Kyle Whittingham said on his coach's show Tuesday night that Rose will be out six-to-eight months.
With Rose sidelined, Utah now has three quarterbacks who are out for the year. Seventh-year senior Cameron Rising opened the season as the Utes’ starter but suffered a hand injury in Week 2 against Baylor. After missing time with that injury, Rising returned against Arizona State but clearly wasn’t 100% before suffering a leg injury himself. That injury put Rising out for the rest of the season.
Former Washington QB Sam Huard is also out for the season. Huard, the son of former NFL QB Damon Huard, transferred to Utah in the offseason after spending time at Cal Poly. He hasn’t seen the field at all this season, though he’d have been an option for the Utes given the injuries to Rising and Rose.
Rose’s injury means that freshman Isaac Wilson will get the starting job back when the Utes play at No. 17 Colorado on Saturday. The freshman brother of former BYU and current Denver Broncos QB Zach Wilson started in Rising’s absence and has played in the most games of any Utes QB so far this season. However, Wilson’s performance is why Rose started against the Cougars.
Through seven games, Wilson is 98-of-177 passing for 1,200 yards and has thrown eight TDs and eight interceptions. He'll be backed up by Luke Bottari against the Buffs. Since Utah has five QBs on its roster, the Utes now do not have a healthy third quarterback.
Utah’s offensive struggles without competent QB play for the second straight season are a big reason the preseason Big 12 favorites are 4-5 despite allowing just 17 points per game. Utah ranks 11th in the country in points allowed per game, but is 1-5 in the Big 12 because it’s scoring less than 23 points per contest. Utah hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game since Week 4 when the Utes beat Oklahoma State 22-19.
That was Utah’s last win, too. The team has averaged just 14.2 points per game over its five-game losing streak — a streak that has included a lot plays with Wilson at QB and also with TE Brant Kuithe on the field.
However, Kuithe also suffered an injury against the Cougars and looks to be out for the rest of the season too. Like Rising, Kuithe missed the entirety of the 2023 season because of a knee injury.
“We’ll miss Brant,” Whittingham said at his Monday news conference. “It rips your heart out to see that happen to Brant but it looks at least at this time, pretty extensive and certainly season-ending from what we understand.”