The 2024 season for the University of Utah football team started out with high expectations and much promise.

Through one-and-a-half games, the Utes looked like a team capable of reaching their preseason goal of winning the Big 12 championship, but injuries to starting quarterback Cam Rising derailed the season.

Utah’s offense foundered for the majority of the season as the Utes lost seven consecutive games for the first time in the Kyle Whittingham era, finishing with a 5-7 record.

Here are 10 moments that defined Utah’s 2024 season:

Preseason expectations set the stage: Utah wasn’t shy about its expectations for the season — to win the Big 12 Conference and make its first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff. With quarterback Cam Rising, who had led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships in his last two healthy seasons, returning, the addition of receiver Dorian Singer and the return of tight end Brant Kuithe, the offense appeared set. The defense also returned a lot of its contributors from the previous season.

Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, setting up high expectations, which the team itself shared.

A 2-0 start … but trouble arises: Utah was always going to run away from Southern Utah, but the way the season started had Ute fans dreaming about what could be. In a 49-0 season-opening win, Rising played for the first time since the 2023 Rose Bowl and threw for 254 yards and five touchdowns in one half.

Next week against Baylor, it was the same story. Utah raced out to a 23-0 lead and Rising threw two first-quarter touchdown passes, but everything came to a screeching halt when Rising was pushed into a Gatorade cooler.

Rising would suffer a finger injury that would keep him out for the next three contests.

Isaac Wilson helps Utah to a 4-0 start: It wasn’t the situation that Utah envisioned for Isaac Wilson in his true freshman year. Wilson won the backup quarterback job over Brandon Rose and Sam Huard, but the plan, ideally, was for the Deseret News Mr. Football winner to learn from Rising and only play in mop-up situations.

Wilson was thrust into action after Rising’s injury and helped lead the Utes to a 4-0 start, beating Utah State on the road and then traveling to Stillwater for a top-15 matchup against Oklahoma State.

Of course, both the Utes and Cowboys ended the season toward the bottom of Big 12’s worst standings, but at the time, it was a monumental matchup, and though he made some mistakes, Wilson helped guide Utah to its first Big 12 win, with 207 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception, plus 41 rushing yards.

A season-ending injury for Rising as Utah’s Big 12 dreams go up in dust in the desert: After weeks of game-time decisions surrounding Rising and his ability to play, the senior quarterback returned to the field in a crucial game at Arizona State.

Utah lost 23-10 to Arizona the week before, and a second Big 12 loss would severely hurt any title prospects.

Rising’s return went anything but as expected. He completed just 16 of 37 passes for 209 yards and threw three interceptions. His finger injury looked to be bothering him, and early on in the game, he suffered a lower-body injury. Though he played through it, it clearly limited him, and turned out to be a season-ending injury.

Just like that, Rising’s season was done early and so, too, was the Utes’.

Andy Ludwig resigns: Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig returned to Utah in 2019 and helped the Utes to some of their most impressive offensive performances, including two Pac-12 championships and a revitalization of the passing game.

It felt like Ludwig was going to stay on at Utah until Kyle Whittingham retired, but after a 13-7 loss to TCU — Utah’s third defeat in a row and third time in as many games that the offense failed to score more than 19 points — that changed.

Ludwig resigned after six years in his second as Utah’s offensive coordinator and Mike Bajakian was named the interim offensive coordinator.

Season hits a low point in Houston: After losing three straight games, it felt like Utah’s game at Houston was a make-or-break moment for the program. Yes, the Utes were all but out of the Big 12 title race with three early conference losses, but could still get the season back on track with a winning streak.

Houston seemed like it could be a get-right game for the Utes.

For the most part, Utah’s defense did its job, limiting Houston to 17 points, but the Utes only mustered 14 points in a fourth-straight loss.

Wilson was benched in the third quarter, and Brandon Rose got his first real action of his career, but couldn’t lead Utah to a victory against the 2-5 Cougars.

Brandon Rose starts against BYU, but Utes lose heartbreaker to Cougars: The first conference rivalry game in over a decade featured two teams on polar opposite tracks.

BYU entered the contest with a No. 9 ranking and a perfect 8-0 record, while Utah was reeling after losing four straight.

Looking to spark offensive change, Rose started, and the offense found life for the first time in weeks. Utah shocked BYU, getting out to a 21-10 halftime lead behind Rose’s 87 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, plus 45 rushing yards.

Shortly before halftime, Rose suffered a Lisfranc injury, and while he finished the rest of the game, he wasn’t the same. Utah went run-heavy with Rose’s injury and didn’t score a single point the rest of the way. BYU drew within three, but the Cougars were backed up toward their own end zone, facing fourth-and-10 at the nine-yard line with 1:35 left.

Utah appeared to have won the game by sacking quarterback Jake Retzlaff, but cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn was flagged for a holding call against a BYU receiver, resulting in an automatic first down. The Cougars drove down the field to set up a 44-yard field goal make by Will Ferrin and escape Salt Lake City with a 22-21 win.

Following the game, Rose and tight end Brant Kuithe ruled out for the season, joining an extensive list for the second consecutive season. Rising, Wilson, quarterback Sam Huard, receiver Money Parks, cornerback Kenan Johnson, running back Anthony Woods, linebacker Levani Damuni and offensive guard Michael Mokofisi were among the players that suffered season-ending injuries in 2024.

Lander Barton extends Utah’s pick-six streak: As Utah continued on its seven-game skid, one of the few areas of interest was if the team could extend its 20-season pick-six streak.

Against Iowa State, Utah did just that, extending its streak of consecutive seasons with an interception return for a touchdown to an NCAA-record 21 years.

In the second quarter of Utah’s 31-28 loss to No. 22 Iowa State, Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht’s pass was behind Jaylin Noel and went off the receiver’s hands and into the hands of Barton at the Utah 13-yard line.

Barton broke a tackle from Becht and got a few key blocks, including from Vaughn, for an 87-yard pick-six.

Defense holds up its end of the bargain for the majority of the season: Sure, there were a few things to nitpick about Utah’s defensive performance in 2024. Utah didn’t tally as many sacks as we’ve been accustomed to seeing, and had a few times where they could have sealed the game with a stop and didn’t.

But for the most part, it was another good year for Morgan Scalley’s unit. The defense didn’t get much help from the offense, but still allowed only 20.7 points per game (No. 28 in the nation) and 329.7 yards per game (No. 30) in another good defensive season.

The defense was the reason why Utah was in most every game it played in 2024, even if it didn’t translate into wins.

Micah Bernard surpasses 1,000 rushing yards: The individual triumph of the season was by running back Micah Bernard, who finally got his shot at the lead running back role after being with the program since 2019. A 1,000-yard season has always been a goal of Bernard’s, and he checked it off the list in his final season.

Bernard rushed for 1,009 yards in 2024, becoming the 17th Ute to do so in a season. He also had 100-plus-yard performances in four games this year.