Kyle Whittingham refuses to elaborate on status of QB Cam Rising, TE Brant Kuithe ahead of Week 1 showdown with Florida

Utah and Kyle Whittingham are preparing for a much-anticipated Week 1 showdown against the Florida Gators, but some injury questions have them weary.

Two of the Utes’ stars on offense, quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe, are battling back from torn ACLs suffered last season. While they were listed as starters at their positions on Utah’s Week 1 depth chart, Whittingham was non-committal regarding their status on Monday.

“Whittingham said he isn’t elaborating on the depth chart, specifically on Cam Rising or Brant Kuithe,” tweeted Josh Furlong of KSL.com Sports. “Won’t mention whether they’ve been cleared or not.”

Rising suffered a torn ACL on Jan. 1 in the team’s Rose Bowl loss to Penn State, immediately casting into doubt his potential availability for the 2023 season opener against Florida. Kuithe, meanwhile, has had a little more time to recover after suffering a torn ACL on Sept. 24 in a game against Arizona State.

But neither has done much in fall camp so far, which begs the question as to whether or not they’ll be ready for Week 1.

Rising was excellent last season for the Utes, throwing for 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. He also ran for 465 yards and six touchdowns and showed a lot of gritty leadership as he led the Utes to their second straight Pac-12 championship.

Kuithe, meanwhile, has been a consistent five-year contributor for the Utes. He has logged 148 career catches for 1,882 yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for four scores.

Time will tell if Kyle Whittingham has two of his top players ready for Florida, as the Utes are certainly hoping that’s the case. However, it seems as if nothing is guaranteed, as Utah looks to avenge their loss to Florida from last season.

The Utah-Florida Thursday night game is getting prime treatment from ESPN

The top ESPN college football crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be out west as Florida travels to face Utah on Thursday, Aug. 31, according to Gators Online’s Nick de la Torre.

The 2023 matchup is a return game from Utah’s trip to Gainesville in 2022, where the Gators won, 29-26, via an interception late in the fourth quarter. Now any similar drama will be scored by a Fowler call and some Herbstreit analysis.

The matchup between Utah and Florida is also one of the best games in the ESPN inventory for Week 1 until LSU and Florida State play on ABC on Sunday. The FSU-LSU game in 2022 was called by Joe Tessitore and Greg McElroy.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this report.