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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
STILLWATER, Okla. — With veteran quarterback Cam Rising sidelined for a second straight week, No. 12 Utah turned to backup quarterback Isaac Wilson at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday then leaned on the true freshman passer to land a statement victory in the program’s inaugural Big 12 game.
In his second career start, Wilson went 17-of-29 for 207 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, delivering a series of key moments and lifting the Utes in a 22-19 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State to become the first true freshman quarterback starter to beat an AP Top 25 opponent in program history.
“I like that he just kept hanging in there and never got down on himself,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “Threw a couple of picks. Didn’t flinch. You saw his ability to run. He ripped off that 40- or 50-yard run. That was huge at that point in time. Dipped his shoulder and made another tough run down in the red zone that got 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 game-time 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 Rising’s place during a 38-21 road victory.
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 starter’s reps in pregame warmups before the Utes made the decision to go with Wilson in a top-15 matchup of Big 12 College Football Playoff hopefuls.
“When he’s ready, he’ll be ready,” Whittingham said of Rising’s status. “That’s all I can say. We were hoping he’d 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 warmups, had a little conference and decided that 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 question” the more physical team Saturday after the Utes outgained Oklahoma State 249-48 on the ground and held onto the football for 42:26 of game time. Sixth-year running back Micah Bernard led the ground attack, totaling a career-high 182 yards to become the first Utah rusher to eclipse 150 yards since Zack Moss gained 160 yards against Stanford in 2018.
But the play of Wilson, the brother of former BYU and current Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, was integral to a win that further cemented the Utes as early Big 12 favorites this fall.
A Utah high school state champion and ESPN’s 13th-ranked pocket passer in the 2024 class, Isaac Wilson began his second career start for the Utes with a pair of incompletions before Oklahoma State safety Trey Rucker intercepted Wilson’s first downfield throw of the day to end Utah’s second offensive series.
The shaky start offered a window into Wilson’s poise and maturity. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound signal-caller followed the interception with completions on 11 of his next 14 passes, including five throws of 15-plus yards. Wilson’s confident fourth-quarter read was the difference on a 45-yard touchdown throw to tight end Brant Kuithe on what proved to be the decisive score before the Utes fended off a late Oklahoma State comeback bid.
But Wilson’s best moments Saturday came when the young passer used his legs. Facing fourth-and-short in the second quarter, Wilson barreled through Cowboys cornerback Korie Black, keeping alive an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that ate 6:28 of game clock.
Wilson showed off his speed minutes after halftime when he left the pocket and burst beyond the Oklahoma State 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 critical plays Wilson executed on a day Utah converted on four of its five fourth-down attempts to topple its first top-15 opponent since 2018.
“The team’s trusting me, so I have to go make a play,” Wilson said when asked where he drew his confidence in pressure situations. “They were giving us zero coverage pretty much the whole game. No one was man up on 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 quarterbacking debacle that unfolded on the opposite sideline 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 the break, coach Mike Gundy opened the second half with redshirt sophomore quarterback Garret Rangel under center.
Across the four series Rangel oversaw, the Cowboys gained 32 yards and one first down on 15 plays while Utah built a 22-3 advantage during the early stages of 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 with a pair of touchdowns as Oklahoma State mounted a late comeback, gaining 127 yards on its final two offensive drives.
The Cowboys offense that exploded in the closing stages only made the unit that struggled so mightily for the initial 55 minutes all the more perplexing. Despite Bowman’s inconsistent performance and temporary benching, Gundy committed to the veteran passer as Oklahoma State’s starter moving forward as the Cowboys stare down a Week 5 trip to No. 13 Kansas State.
“Sometimes you got to get a guy out and calm him down a little bit,” Gundy said. “…I just felt like we weren’t getting good play and we needed a relief pitcher. Get somebody else in there. And Garret had a tough day. So you switch back.”