Utah Utes Plummet in AP Poll, But Not Because of Cameron Rising

After dropping their first game of the season, the Utah Utes suffered their first drop in rank from AP voters. But while there were many factors contributing to their lackluster offensive showing Saturday, Cameron Rising was not one of them.

After falling to Oregon State 21-7 Saturday afternoon, the Utah Utes are officially out of the AP top-10. 

Utah fell eight spots to No. 18, easily the largest decrease in ranking of the week outside of LSU, who dropped 10 spots. Oregon State was ranked No. 19 last week, but jumped over Utah to No. 15 — putting them out in front following the head to head matchup. 

The Utes went without their starting quarterback, Cameron Rising, once again, but despite not playing any in-game reps against the Beavers, he was getting reps in the days leading up to Saturday, putting him in a strong position to return soon, if not next week.

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But while being Rising-less is an easy scape goat for the no-longer undefeated Utes, coach Kyle Whittingham made sure to set the record straight, stating that Rising's absence — nor his practice time — played a role in the loss.

"Nate got plenty of reps," he said of the Utes' split practice time between Nate Johnson and Rising. "What it would have cost is Bryson Barnes, who didn't get any reps ... but Cam and Nate split reps exactly in half, so no, that was not a factor in what we did out there performance wise offensively. " 

Utah only managed to find the end zone one time against Oregon State, when Johnson found Thomas Yassmin for a 41-yard touchdown to close out the scoring between either teams. Overall, it was just a lackluster showing, though considering it was against another ranked conference opponent, it could have been worse. 

The Utes may not be in the top-10 any longer, but their season is far from over. With Rising's return, they have a chance to continue competing in the Pac-12 and beyond, and for Whittingham's squad — which has already endured its share of injuries and adversity — a chance is all they need.

Next up for the Utes is a matchup against Cal on Oct. 14 — a week from Saturday. Kickoff time is TBD.