Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Huard Lost to Season-Ending Injury at Utah

The quarterback recently underwent surgery for an unspecified health issue.

Dan Raley

Former Husky QB Sam Huard, now at Utah, warms up for a 2021 game.
Former Husky QB Sam Huard, now at Utah, warms up for a 2021 game. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Sam Huard can't seem to catch a break as a college quarterback, or at least a healthy one -- now at Utah, he recently underwent surgery for an unspecified season-ending injury, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham revealed on Friday on a radio show.

This comes after the 5-star recruit initially joined a University of Washington football program set to implode, found himself behind NFL-bound quarterback Michael Penix Jr. for another Husky season and spent yet another year at a Cal Poly program in a major rebuild in the Big Sky Conference.

Looking to re-energize his FBS career, Huard transferred to Utah last May, joining a program anticipating the return of veteran QB Cam Rising, who was returning from his own season-ending injury in 2023.

Rising, however, lasted just six games this fall before suffering a leg injury against Arizona State that ended this season for him and has sent him to surgery.

All along, there had been no mention of Huard as a possible Rising replacement and he wasn't used in any Utes games.

Whittingham finally offered some clues as to what happened to the former Husky quarterback, though he didn't get into detail.

"Sam Huard had surgery some time ago that has ended his season," the coach told radio station KSL in Salt Lake City. "He's not physically able to perform and he's out for the rest of the year."

Huard, the son of former Husky quarterback Damon Huard, last appeared in nine games for a 3-8 Cal Poly team, completing 184 of 303 passes for 2,247 yards and 18 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions, in 2023 at the FCS level.

Unfortunately for him, the Utes (4-4 overall, 1-4 Big 12) could really use Huard as they continue to struggle to find a productive replacement from among freshman Isaac Wilson and senior Brandon Rose.

Rising, a seventh-year senior, will have surgery soon and decide whether he wants to return for an eighth season available to him in an injury-filled career.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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