How Cameron Rising rose from east Ventura to Rose Bowl quarterback
The drive from Salt Lake City to Ventura takes more than 10 hours.
Cameron Rising has made the trek many times since transferring to the University of Utah.
“You just have to drive,” Rising said. “You just have to focus on the road … and be patient.”
The Ventura native graduate has refused to let all those hours on the road over the past two years go to waste.
He likes to pass the time by listening to podcasts or whole albums, so he can absorb the artist’s vision.
“Everything that you go through kind of always teaches you a lesson along the way,” Rising said. “I’m always reminded me that there’s no better moment than the present, even if it’s one of your worst moments."
Rising’s road from Ventura County to the starting quarterback in the Rose Bowl hasn’t exactly been hundreds of miles of Interstate 15 straightaways.
But he’s made sure to learn from every twist and turn.
“You have to endure those hardships to get the rewards,” Rising said. “It makes it feel that much better.”
When No. 10 Utah takes the field against No. 7 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, Rising will join Wayne Cook, another Newbury Park High graduate, as the only Ventura County natives to start a Rose Bowl at quarterback.
“It’s a great feeling,” Rising said. “I always remind myself that you can’t take it for granted. Anything can happen at any moment. You have to be prepared and ready for what comes.”
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Cook completed 28 of 43 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown in UCLA’s 21-16 loss to Wisconsin in the 1994 Rose Bowl.
Camarillo’s Joe Borchard backed up starting quarterback Todd Husak in Stanford’s 17-9 loss to Wisconsin in the 1999 Rose Bowl, completing his only pass for 6 yards.
Rising grew up in Ventura, but starred for Newbury Park High. He committed to the University of Oklahoma, but signed with the University of Texas.
After transferring to Utah, he won the starting job, but suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the second quarter of his debut against USC last year.
Just like when he usually wasn’t the starting quarterback on his Ventura Packers youth teams, Rising wasn’t the quarterback when Utah’s season began in August.
But he won the job back from Baylor transfer Charlie Brewer with his performance off the bench in the overtime loss to San Diego State on Sept. 18 and led the Utes to the Pacific-12 Conference title.
“You've just got to have unwavering belief in your ability and trust the team and trust the coaches and know that it may not be what you want, but it's the situation you have,” Rising said. “And you've got to make the most of what you have.”
A finalist for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year award, Rising was named to the All-Pac-12 first team after completing 187 of 298 passes for 2,279 yards and 18 TDs. He’s also rushed for 407 yards and five TDs.
“He's just gotten better every game,” said Ohio State assistant coach Matt Barnes, who calls the defense for the Buckeyes. “He's faster than you like. He's more physical than you like. He throws a better ball than you like.”
And his handle of the Utah offense apparently rivals even offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.
“There's no question that his system knowledge of what we're doing is beyond reproach, more than any coach, myself included, in the program,” Ludwig said. “He has great ownership, but the way that he is learning to dissect defenses, dissect opponents, and then translate it on game day… has been one of the most pleasant, enjoyable things to watch.”
Battles in the driveway
Rising was shaped by his childhood in Ventura, growing up as the youngest of three brothers.
His father Nicko was a safety at Cal Lutheran University. Oldest brother Jordie played football and ran track at Buena High. Middle brother Tyson was an offensive tackle at Buena High, Ventura College and Arizona State.
“Without a doubt, they probably have had the biggest impact on my mentality and how I approach the game,” Rising said.
There was no quarter given in the driveway off Kimball Road.
“He was always the little kid trying to be like the big people,” Nicko Rising said. “As he grew up, no one took it easy on him. He had to fight and scrap and claw for everything.”
Tyson eventually grew to 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds in college.
“I grew up competing with Tyson,” Rising said. “I had to go through battles with him. I learned how to really dig deep and know you can always do a little bit more.”
As a 9-year-old, his grandfather offered to buy him a PlayStation Portable video game system, if he scored four goals in his youth soccer game.
When he scored his 10th goal, Nicko told his son to “chill out.”
“I’m trying to get both of my brothers Playstation Portables, too,” Rising responded.
Rising was 13 when he came back from 18-0 down to beat his father in a game of 21 at the basketball hoop in the family driveway.
“He was bodying me up and pushing me,” Nicko said. “He came back and beat me legitimately. … That was his ascension to controlling the driveway.”
Rising wasn’t even the quarterback on his Ventura Packers youth football team.
That was Matt Corral, who will lead Ole Miss into the Sugar Bowl on Saturday in another signature New Year’s Day bowl game.
“I played corner, receiver, running back,” Rising said. “I was just an athlete.”
After he moved to quarterback as an eighth-grader, Rising commuted to Newbury Park because Nicko assumed Corral, who grew up a mile away, would attend Buena.
Instead, neither Power 5 quarterback from east Ventura became a Bulldog. Corral starred at Oaks Christian and Long Beach Poly before joining Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.
“I’m happy to see him doing so well,” Rising said of Corral.
Former Utah center Orlando Omana is Corral’s center at Ole Miss.
“I hear a lot good things from my old teammate,” Rising said.
Everyone's friend
Former Newbury Park offensive coordinator Keith Smith remembers an athletic freshman with some rough edges.
“His throwing mechanics as a freshman were not great,” Smith said. “He was accurate with the football, but it was long. It wasn’t as tight and quick as it is now.”
Rising improved by leaps and bounds in his first offseason at Newbury Park. He threw 40 touchdowns and one interception as a sophomore, eventually breaking the Ventura County record for pass attempts without an interception with 324.
Rising developed into a national recruit, but Smith remembers his quarterback standing out for his leadership, rather than his play.
“He never missed a practice,” Smith said. “He never missed a weight room. Even if he was injured, he was there, which is unusually for a kid in high school.”
“His leadership was off the charts. Everybody gravitated to him. He has that infectious smile. The way he handles himself and carries himself, he wants to win.”
The sentiment will be familiar in Utah, where his teammates voted him as a team captain, even before he was the team’s starting quarterback.
“His leadership and his interaction with his teammates is beyond reproach,” Ludwig. “His personality jives with every player, with every position group. No one is an outcast with Cam Rising. He's everyone's confidante. He's everyone's friend. They listen to him. He's a great communicator, and being a great teammate is very important to him.”
Fulfilling a dream
Growing up in Ventura, Rising attended UCLA games at the Rose Bowl, especially as a recruit, but he never got a chance to witness the “Granddaddy of Them All” in person.
“I pretty much always wanted to go to the parade and be able to watch that game live,” Rising said.
Instead, his first experience at a Rose Bowl will be on the field, fulfilling a dream.
“I dreamed of playing in this game and couldn’t get it done,” Tyson Rising said. “Watching him do it, it been incredible.
“We talked about this game as kids. He went out there and did it. How many people can say they did that?
Rising would be the third Newbury Park quarterback to start a Rose Bowl, if it wasn’t for Edgerrin James.
When his 299-yard, three-TD performance for Miami knocked UCLA out of the 1999 Bowl Championship Series national title game, it also knocked Smith’s Arizona team out of the Rose Bowl.
Smith was named Holiday Bowl MVP after leading two fourth-quarter scoring drives in a 23-20 win over Nebraska.
He’s envious of his former pupil.
“To have that experience to play in front of 100,000 in the Rose Bowl,” Smith said, “it’s like a Super Bowl with that crowd. It’s one of the biggest stages you can be on.”
And Smith wouldn’t miss it.
“I’m going to be at the game,” Smith said. “I have tickets and everything, I cannot wait for the game. I’m not going to miss a snap, I’ve watched every game he’s played this year.”
Rising will have at least 18 members of his family at the Rose Bowl, including some flying in from Tennessee and Texas.
“We’re not messing around,” Nicko said. “We’re going to have a lot of folks there.”
Rising attributes the classic 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC a key moment in his own relationship with football.
“That made me fall in love with football and college football, especially,” Rising said.
On New Year’s Day, he’ll be able to make his own personal memories on Pasadena’s hallowed ground.
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: How Cameron Rising rose from east Ventura to Rose Bowl quarterback
