Cameron Rising tossed a career-high five touchdown passes in his return from a major knee injury and No. 12 Utah crushed Southern Utah 49-0 on Thursday night in the season opener for both schools in Salt Lake City.

Brant Kuithe caught a career-best three touchdown passes as he returned from his own serious knee injury for the Utes. The contest was Rising’s first in nearly 20 months and fellow seventh-year player Kuithe’s first in nearly two years.

Rising completed 10 of 15 passes for 254 yards before exiting the contest after his fifth TD late in the first half. He tore multiple ligaments and meniscus cartilage in his knee in the Rose Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 2, 2023.

Dijon Stanley came out of the backfield to catch scoring passes of 64 and 79 yards for the Utes. He had three receptions for 150 yards and Kuithe had four catches for 69 yards to help Utah outgain the FCS Thunderbirds 513-150.

Jackson Berry started for Southern Utah and completed 6 of 11 passes for 54 yards and one interception. Bronson Barron (1 of 7, 9 yards) and Jordan Pachot (1 of 3, 8 yards) also saw action.

The Thunderbirds had a shot at avoiding the shutout but Daniel King’s 48-yard field-goal attempt caromed off the left upright with 1:53 remaining.

Highly regarded freshman Isaac Wilson replaced Rising for Utah’s final first-half possession and threw an interception on his first collegiate pass. He finished 7-of-11 passing for 74 yards, one touchdown and two picks.

Wilson is the younger brother of Zach Wilson, the former BYU star quarterback who is now a member of the Denver Broncos.

Utah scored its first touchdown when Stanley ran the wheel route on the right side and wasn’t covered by the Thunderbirds. The 64-yard touchdown play came with 8:46 left in the first quarter.

Rising threw four scoring passes in the second quarter, the first a 29-yarder to Kuithe just 12 seconds into the period. The two connected again on an 18-yarder to make it 21-0 with 11:27 left in the half.

Two-plus minutes later, the Utes regained possession and again called for a wheel route to the right to Stanley. Again, nobody covered him as he caught the ball and cruised to a 79-yard touchdown.

Rising tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to Kuithe with 1:08 left for a 35-0 halftime lead.

The Utah lead grew to 42 when Mike Mitchell scored from the 4 with 4:23 left in the third quarter. Wilson tossed a 20-yard scoring pass to Caleb Lohner with 11:05 remaining in

the game.