Man down: Keeton goes down, will miss remainder of season
It’s every fan’s worst nightmare.
Playing against an arch-rival in a highly-anticipated match-up, your team throws an interception that’s returned for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and is struggling offensively and defensively.
Then to make matters worse, the star player goes down with a season-ending injury.
Romney Stadium was on pins and needles Friday night when that scenario played out with USU’s star quarterback Chuckie Keeton suffering a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee against the BYU Cougars.
“(It’s a) very unfortunate situation for both Chuckie and our team,” said USU football head coach Matt Wells. “We’ve lost a great leader, great teammate and a very productive football player. I have all the confidence in the world in Chuckie, along with our doctors and staff that he will come back stronger than ever next season. As for the remainder of this season, we will regroup as a team and pick up the slack and continue to strive to compete for the Mountain West championship.”
Trailing 10-7 and facing a long third down situation, Keeton scrambled out of the pocket and made his way down field. Keeton leaped over a BYU defender, landing awkwardly on the turf, and his knee buckled.
Keeton dropped the ball as he was tackled to the turf and immediately began grasping his knee.
After an MRI on Saturday, Wells and the Aggies announced Keeton was done for the season. The team estimated the recovery time would be about eight months.
Ironically, Keeton’s journey as an Aggie began against the Cougars in 2010, committing to USU after watching the Aggies beat BYU 31-16 during his recruiting trip to Logan.
It’s the second time in Keeton’s career that he’s suffered an injury that kept him out for an extended period of time. During his freshman season, Keeton suffered an injury against Hawaii in November 2011 and missed the next five games.
Backup quarterback Adam Kennedy came in and led USU to four straight wins in Keeton’s absence before coming up short in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Ohio. Kennedy now plays at Arkansas State.
Keeton finishes the 2013 season with 1,388 yards and 18 touchdowns through the air and 241 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. The Houston native ranked second nationally in touchdown passes prior to the injury and second in points per game with an average of 22.8.
He is also ranked highly in a number of categories at USU. Keeton ranks first in completion percentage, second in touchdown passes and completions, third in total offense, sixth in passing yards and seventh in passing attempts.
During his sophomore year as an Aggie – his only full season at the helm – Keeton set school records for touchdown passes with 27, passing yards with 3,372 and total offense with 3,992 yards. Keeton also had 619 yards rushing and eight more touchdowns, garnering first-team All-WAC honors for his efforts.
Keeton was also named to the 2013-14 Heisman watch list prior to the season, though he was a long shot and saw his hopes disappear after a loss to USC on Sept. 21.
It will be up to junior quarterback Craig Harrison to step in and take over for the rest of the season, starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 when the Aggies host Mountain West Conference-foe Boise State at Romney Stadium.
– curtislundstrom@gmail.com
Twitter: @CurtSport07