Kyle Whittingham has been coaching at Utah longer than just about anyone in college football, and this season might be one of his best performances yet.

Guys have been going in and out of the lineup every week. Just about each game, Utah sees a new playmaker go down with a season-ending injury. And on Saturday after a 34-32 win over USC on the road, Whittingham revealed that quarterback Cameron Rising was being shut down for the season.

The Utes will roll with Bryson Barnes at quarterback the rest of the way.

And what a game he had against USC. With the reigning Heisman Trophy winner on the other side, Barnes made huge plays to help his team to a victory.

“They’ve got a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they’re gonna make some things, and that’s just the way it is,” Whittingham said. “But we’ve got ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, so we’re proud of that guy, too.”

Barnes began his career as a walk-on. The junior from Milford opened the year as the starter and led Utah to a win over Florida in the opener. He started the 20-13 Baylor win, but was replaced by Nate Johnson in the fourth quarter. Johnson started the next three games for Utah, but offensive struggles continued and, against Oregon State on Sept. 29, Utah went back to Barnes.

Against USC, Barnes completed 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He added 57 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground, helping to set up a 38-yard game-winning field goal with a clutch 26-yard run in the game’s final minute.

“Bryson Barnes is a fierce competitor and will do whatever it takes to win,” Whittingham said. “No regard for his body, we saw it slam up in there and it was just him improvising. It was him making a play when there wasn’t one there to be made in the throwing lane.”

And the Utes have confidence in him going forward.

“Yeah Bryson is our guy, he’s our quarterback, and we’ve got confidence in him,” Whittingham said. “We just keep moving forward with the guys that we have healthy.”