Utah State holds first scrimmage
Joe Hill rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown in the scrimmage. Kylee Larsen photo
The Utah State football team held its first scrimmage of fall ball on Tuesday at Romney Stadium. The scrimmage marked the first public return of senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who is coming back from an ACL injury last season.
“So far I’m feeling great,” Keeton said. “It’s really just a pleasure to get back out here with these guys.”
Keeton completed 16 of 22 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the scrimmage while adding 32 yards and a touchdown running.
“Typical Chuckie Keeton, just scrambling making plays turning nothing into something,” said senior running back Joe Hill.
Hill also made his first public return for the scrimmage as he too suffered a knee injury last season. Hill stole the show with 67 rushing yards and a touchdown, averaging over five yards per carry.
“My knee is strong,” Hill said. “I’m just getting my confidence back on cutting. Today I didn’t even think about it, I was just making my cuts and making my reads on the go.”
The scrimmage set the Aggies’ second string defense against the first string offense, while the second offense went against the first defense. Sophomore linebacker Nick Vigil, freshman linebacker Alex Huerta and senior defensive end B.J. Larsen sat out with minor injuries. Head coach Matt Wells pointed at this as a reason of the defense’s sluggish play.
“They gave up some stuff in the middle of the field which is a good job on the number two offense, but not like our defense,” Wells said. “Not worried about it one bit, we held a couple guys out with some training camp tweaks.”
With Vigil and Huerta sitting out, the starting job fell to junior linebacker LT Filiaga. The Utah transfer recorded a sack and two tackles for a loss in the scrimmage.
“LT has done a nice job thus far,” said senior linebacker Zach Vigil. “He flows to the ball really well, he has a lot of heart and that’s something that we need on this defense, he’s going to fit in just fine.”
Coach Wells added his own praise to Filiaga’s performance.
“He’s got more than a chance, he’s going to play,” said Wells. “He’s going to play really well for us, he’s going to fit right in.”
Sophomore quarterback Darell Garretson went 14 for 25 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown. However he fumbled four snaps, recovering three of them and losing one on the 1-yard line, which was then recovered by Jordan Nielson in the end zone for a touchdown.
Junior college transfer Hunter Sharp lead in receiving, totaling 90 yards on five catches with a touchdown. Junior receiver Brandon Swindall also tacked on five receptions, including one for a touchdown. Freshman Hayden Weichers also brought in a touchdown reception.
“It’s so exciting just thinking about it, we have so many weapons,” Swindall said. “It’s gonna be a big year, I have a feeling that we’ll have at least two receivers with 100 yards per game every game.”
The Aggies will hold the next scrimmage on Saturday at Romney Stadium.
-Jeffrey Dahdah
@dahdahUSU