Five Numbers Tell The Story: Cam Rising, Utah Football’s Passing Attack

Aug 30, 2024, 2:24 PM | Updated: 5:19 pm

Utah Insider

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Football’s star quarterback Cam Rising looked sharp in his return to the field last night. It’s been a longtime for him, and Brant Kuithe, but the two were the powering force in Utah’s 49-0 win in the season opener.

Came out swinging 📸#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/iEvyXj8bLt

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 30, 2024

Rising’s efforts in the passing game was the story of the night. Here are five numbers that tell a more detailed story of Utah’s throw game last night.

Cam Rising’s magic number last night – 5

Cam Rising played 5 series last night. Those 5 series resulted in 5 touchdown drives. All 5 of those touchdown drives, resulted in a touchdown pass. He also threw just 5 incompletions and finished 10-of-15 on the game. He made good decisions, got the ball out in a timely manner, and executed the throws he needed to. Not perfect by any stretch but a very solid performance in his return to action.

Utah 49 – SUU 0

Check out our Clips of the Game! 🎥@Utah_Football | @GreatClips pic.twitter.com/wb5tVmn4mZ

— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) August 30, 2024

Utah’s play calling with Cam Rising – 20:12

There has been a lot of discussion about the offense and what it will look like this season. It was a small sample size but one that gives a pretty clear suggestion that this offense will be geared more toward the throw.

Rising played 32 snaps last night. Utah called 20 pass plays to just 12 runplays in those 32 snaps. Rising scrambled on four of those pass calls, which obviously results in a rushing tally. Still, 20 pass calls to just 12 run class left Utah with a 38:62 run:pass ratio for Cam and the offense.

Obviously, it’s just one game against an FCS opponent. Small sample size. This trend needs to continue into next week and beyond. Still, a pretty noticeable shift in favor of the passing game.

Pressures allowed on Cam Rising – 2

The top priority for Utah this season is keeping Rising upright and healthy. So after he was pressured and took a big hit on the very first snap (which also likely impacted the poor throw and missed opportunity with Dorian Singer), worry took over that Rising was in for a long night.

However, the offensive line settled in and so did Rising. After that first pressure, Rising was only pressured one other time in his 19 dropbacks before his night came to an end.

Rising had a clean pocket 89.5% of the time last night. That’s a pretty solid result but an effort that will need to improve as Utah’s schedule gets more difficult.

Spencer Fano had a surprisingly hard time in pass pro last night. He gave up 4 of Utah’s 8 total pressures allowed on the night. Fano was a dominant force in the run game, which is very encouraging. He just needs to make some adjustments in pass pro and he’ll be just fine.

As for Wilson, the pressure rate picked up with him in the game. Utah gave up 6 pressures in the 14 dropbacks with Wilson at the helm. That’s got to improve but so does Wilson’s decisiveness, which is literally a matter of split-seconds.

The number of big plays in the passing game – 7

Utah had 7 big plays in the passing game on the night, which resulted in 246 yards and 5 touchdowns. That’s an average of 35.1 yards per play and more importantly for the football geeks out there, 4.2 points per play.

The Utes have typically been pretty efficient in the passing game. If they become more explosive, that will really bode will for the team’s potential overall, as it is just another element that would improve their ability to win games.

What a breath of fresh air for #Utes fans to see Brant Kuithe back on the field and scoring touchdowns.
I asked him about that after Utah's win over SUU to open the 2024 season.#GoUtes @KSLSports pic.twitter.com/brwt9hH9BY

— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_TV) August 30, 2024

Utah Football’s improvement in pass play success – +20.2%

Utah had a 59.3% success rate on all pass plays. That is a considerable improvement from the struggle Utah experienced in the pass game last season, where Utah only had a 39.1% success rate. Even against Weber State last season, Utah only had success on 50% of pass plays.

Rising did a good job of identifying where to go with the ball pretty quickly. There were some missed throws and opportunities but overall, Rising did a good job of getting the ball out and creating success.

Isaac Wilson did not operate to the same efficiency as Rising, who was above 60% on the night. However, he still finished the game right around a 50% success rate. The two interceptions were poor results that he will learn from. However, he settled in, made some good decisions and throws.

Wilson was able to connect with Taeshaun Lyons, Daidren Zipperer, Luca Calderella, and Caleb Lohner, who he threw the touchdown pass to.