Utah Quarterback Cam Rising Expected to Miss Florida Game

One of the biggest storylines heading into Week 1 is the health of Utah star quarterback Cam Rising.

After suffering a torn ACL in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, Rising and head coach Kyle Whittingham have been hopeful that the QB would be cleared for the opener against Florida on Thursday night at home. However, all indications are that Rising will miss this game as he continues his rehab from surgery.

Utah, which opened as a 9.5-point favorite in a rematch from last season's thriller against Florida, is now as low as a four-point favorite a day ahead of kickoff against the Gators.

Get ready for Week 1 by finding out how we are betting each Top 25 team against the spread!

Utah vs. Florida Odds, Spread and Total

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Who Will Start at Quarterback for Utah?

Rising's impact on the Utes is immense. He has led the team to back-to-back PAC-12 Championships and is fresh off a 3,034 passing yards campaign that featured a glowing 26-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

It gets even more dire for the Utes, though. The team's backup quarterback, Brandon Rose, suffered a lacerated kidney in training camp earlier this month and is also expected to miss this game. Quarterback duties are likely going to be left up to Bryson Barnes, who started the team's game against Washington State and came in for Rising during the Rose Bowl last season.

In his lone start last season, Barnes completed 17-of-21 passes for 175 yards while adding 51 yards on the ground in a 21-17 win on the road.

It's worth noting that it's also unclear if the team's expected top pass catcher, tight end Brant Kuithe, will be available for the opening game. Kuithe suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State in late September last season, but there have been minimal updates on if he has been cleared to practice.

The line has predictably shifted in favor of the visiting Gators, who are playing its first true non conference road game since 1991 at altitude in a difficult home environment that is Rice-Eccles Stadium.

You can check out more on this Thursday night marquee matchup with our betting preview here

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Track Reed's bets here!