STILLWATER, Ok. — With veteran quarterback Cam Rising sidelined for the second straight week, No. 12 Utah turned to backup quarterback Isaac Wilson on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium. The team then leaned on the true freshman passer to pull off a statement win in the program’s first Big 12 game.

In his second career start, Wilson was 17 of 29 for 207 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He produced a series of big plays and led the Utes to a 22-19 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma State, becoming the first true freshman quarterback starter to defeat an AP Top 25 opponent in program history.

“I like that he just hung in there and never got down,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He threw a couple picks. He never flinched. You saw his ability to run. He ripped that 40- or 50-yard run. That was huge at the time. He dropped his shoulder and made another tough run in the red zone that gave us a first down. He’s just a competitor.”

Ahead of one of the most anticipated games on the 2024 Big 12 schedule, ESPN reported Saturday that Rising would be a play-by-play decision against Oklahoma State. The seventh-year passer has not played since injuring his throwing hand against Baylor on Sept. 7. Wilson made his first career start against Utah State in Week 3, completing 20 of his 33 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns in place of Rising during a 38-21 win on foreign soil.

Whittingham told reporters that the two quarterbacks split practice reps during Utah’s Week 3 preparation for Oklahoma State. On Saturday, Rising wore a protective glove on his throwing hand and took starting reps in pregame warmups before the Utes made the decision to go with Wilson in a top-15 game of Big 12 College Football Playoff contenders.

“When he’s ready, he’ll be ready,” Whittingham said of Rising’s status. “That’s all I can say. We were hoping he would be ready this week.”

“It was literally a game-time decision,” Whittingham continued. “Not game day; it was game-time. We came into the locker room after all the warm-ups, had a quick meeting and decided the guy who gave us the best chance to win was Isaac. Cam agreed. That’s what we did and that’s the direction we went.”

Whittingham said Utah was “without a doubt” the more physical team Saturday after the Utes outscored Oklahoma State 249-48 on the ground, holding the ball for 42:26 of the game. Sixth-year running back Micah Bernad led the rushing attack, totaling a personal best of 182 rushing yards to become the first Utah rusher to eclipse 150 yards rushing since Zack Moss had 160 against Stanford in 2018.

But the play of Wilson, the brother of former BYU and current Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, was essential to the victory that further cemented Utah as an early favorite for the Big 12 this fall.

Wilson, a high school state champion and ESPN’s 13th-best pocket passer in the class of 2024, began his second career start with two incomplete passes before Oklahoma State safety Trey Rucker intercepted Wilson’s first throw of the day, ending Utah’s second offensive run.

The shaky start offered a glimpse into Wilson’s poise and maturity. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback followed the interception with completions on 11 of his next 14 passes, including five throws of 15-plus yards. Later in the game, Wilson’s confident read was the difference on a 45-yard touchdown throw to tight end Brant Kuithe for what proved to be the deciding score before the Utes held off a late comeback attempt by Oklahoma State.

But Wilson’s best moments Saturday came when the young passer used his legs. Facing fourth-and-short in the second quarter, Wilson rammed through Cowboys cornerback Korie Black, keeping alive an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that ate up 6:28 of the game clock.

Wilson showed off his speed minutes after halftime when he left the pocket and raced past Oklahoma State’s defense for a 48-yard run. He turned to his legs again for a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter, another in a series of decisive plays Wilson made on a day when Utah converted four of its five fourth-down attempts to beat its first top-15 opponent since 2018.

“The team trusts me, so I have to make a play,” Wilson said when asked where he got his confidence in high-pressure situations. “They didn’t give us any coverage the whole game. Nobody was against me. So when I broke that pocket, I knew it was going to be there.”

Utah’s smooth transition at quarterback was a stark contrast to the quarterback debacle that unfolded on the other end of the line Saturday.

Seventh-year Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman opened with completions on four of his first 10 throws, then completed just two of his next 12 attempts before halftime, finishing the first half 8 of 22 for 89 yards and an interception. With the Cowboys trailing 10-3 at halftime, Mike Gundy opened the second half with redshirt sophomore quarterback Garet Rangel under center.

In the four series Rangel oversaw, the Cowboys gained 32 yards and one first down on 15 plays as Utah built a 22-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. Bowman later reentered the game with 9:26 remaining and was intercepted on his second series before completing his final eight passes for a pair of touchdowns as Oklahoma State mounted a late comeback, gaining 127 yards on its final two offensive drives.

The Cowboys’ offense exploding in the final period only served to confuse a unit that struggled through the first 55 minutes. Despite Bowman’s inconsistent performances and temporary benching, Gundy settled in for the veteran passer as Oklahoma State’s starter moving forward as the Cowboys eye a Week 5 trip to No. 13 Kansas State.

“Sometimes you have to take a guy out and calm him down a little bit,” Gundy said. “…I just felt like we weren’t playing well and we needed a relief pitcher. Put somebody else in. And Garret had a rough day. So you switch back.”