SALT LAKE CITY — — Cam Rising returned the favor with a career-high five touchdown passes — three to Brant Kuithe — to lead No. 12 Utah to a 49-0 win over Southern Utah on Thursday night.

Rising, a seventh-year quarterback, excelled in his first game since torn multiple knee ligaments in the Utes’ Rose Bowl loss to Penn State on Jan. 2, 2023, going 10 of 15 for 254 yards and 25 rushing yards as the 84th consecutive sellout crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium gasped with every rush. He exited the game in the second quarter with Utah up 35-0.

Kuithe, who also missed last season and most of the 2022 campaign, caught three touchdown passes — all in the second quarter. He caught a 29-yard toss for a score on the first play of the quarter before catching an 18-yarder three minutes later. With 1:08 left in the half, Kuithe held off three defenders on his way to the end zone with an 11-yard grab.

Rising’s barrage marked the first time Utah had five passing TDs in a half since Brian Johnson against San Diego State in 2008, the last season Utah went undefeated.

In their first game as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the Utes had 513 yards of total offense in their 15th straight win over FCS opponents. Utah has topped the 500-yard mark just once in 2023, against Arizona State.

Kuithe entered the Big 12 record book as the first tight end ever to score three touchdowns in a single half of the season.

The Utes have started the year at home 15 times under coach Kyle Whittingham and are 14-1 in those games. They left no doubt in this one when Rising Dijon found Stanley on a wheel route for a 64-yard score on Utah’s first possession.

Stanley outran the defense on a similar play for a 79-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and finished with 150 yards on three receptions, while leading the team in rushing with 34 yards.

Starting cornerback Kenan Johnson, a transfer from Georgia Tech, left in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury. Cornerback is Utah’s thinnest position, according to coaches entering the season.

TO TAKE OFF

Southern Utah: Though overpowered in size and speed, the Thunderbirds were able to make some nice runs and QB scrambles. But their defense seemed unprepared for wheel routes and some of the multiple tight end sets the Utes ran and were unable to withstand Utah’s push to the line of scrimmage.

Utah: In addition to the welcome returns of Kuithe and Rising, Utah may have found another big threat in Stanley. He played rarely last season, but coaches had promised a “special package” of plays for the speedster, despite the fact that he’s listed as a fourth-string running back. Utah’s defense was its usual stifling self, as Van Fillinger had two sacks and Elijah Davis had an interception.

SURVEY IMPLICATIONS

Utah could move up if more upsets occur in the Top 10 during the first full weekend of college football.

NEXT

Southern Utah plays at UTEP on September 7.

Utah hosts Baylor on Sept. 7 in a non-conference game that was scheduled before Utah joined the Big 12.

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