Why is Cam Rising not playing? Utah QB's injury status explored ahead of Week 1 game vs. Florida

The Utah Utes will open its 2023 college football season in Week 1 at 8 p.m. ET against the Florida Gators.

Utah will be hosting Florida in a pivotal game as these two teams met last year in Week 1 and lost the game in Gainesville. Now, the Utes are looking for revenge and are the higher-ranked team but starting quarterback Cam Rising was dealing with an injury.

Originally, many expected Rising to start the game, even though he tore his ACL in the Rose Bowl and was feeling good before the season.

However, according to reports, Cam Rising will not play in Utah's Week 1 game against Florida as he isn't healthy enough to start.

The news is no doubt disappointing for Utes fans as Rising is one of the top quarterbacks in college football. As the starting quarterback, he's 18-6 and has thrown for 5,572 yards and 46 touchdowns. He also has been the reason why Utah has won back-to-back Pac-12 titles.

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Who is Utah's backup QB?

With Cam Rising not playing Week 1 against the Florida Gators, the Utah Utes will be turning to Bryson Barnes. Barnes is a junior and was a walk-on to Utah in 2020 but has been promoted to a scholarship.

The quarterback did throw two passes in 2021 going 2-for-2 for 23 yards and a touchdown. Last season, Barnes went 37-for-57 for 430 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

In the Rose Bowl, after Rising went down, Barnes was 10-for-19 for 12 yards with one TD and one interception after replacing Rising in the Rose Bowl loss to Penn State.

Although Barnes has been in the system for a few years, redshirt freshman Nate Johnson is also expected to take a couple of snaps.

In training camp, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham praised both the quarterbacks that are replacing Rising.

“They’re all picking up where they left off in spring. Brandon came out of spring slightly ahead of the other guys,” Kyle Whittingham said. "He’s taking the No. 2 reps right now and actually a lot of the No. 1 reps that Cam can’t take depending on what drill we’re in."

Whittingham added:

"Nate doing a nice job and Bryson Barnes is doing a nice job. So those three guys are going to continue to compete until we can confidently separate them.”

Utah vs. Florida is set to kickoff at 8 p.m. ET.