Dynamic Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton is likely out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury, the school announced Wednesday. It's the second straight year that Keeton has been knocked out because of a hurt knee.
Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton likely out for season with knee injury
It’s the second year in a row Keeton will see his season end early.
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Keeton suffered what was considered to be a minor injury to his surgically repaired left knee during the Aggies’ 36-24 win over Wake Forest on Sept. 13. He was immediately ruled out of the team’s following game against Arkansas State, but head coach Matt Wells said the QB was “fine.”
“Chuckie is fine from a health standpoint,” Wells said during his weekly press conference. “The ACL is intact, everything is good, it’s just banged up. We’re going to sit him out this week and next week, then reevaluate and see where he’s at during the BYU week.”
Even as late as Monday, Wells sounded like he believed Keeton had a good chance to return from the injury.
“It’ll happen in the next few days. We’ll see how Chuckie (Keeton) is early this week. We’ll get him out practicing today and see what’s going on. I’ll talk to our medical staff, those guys are experts in what they do. I’ll lean on them really heavily. I wouldn’t put a number on the reps or anything, we’ll just see how he is. If he can go through practice today and tomorrow, the reps will be close to 50/50. If he can’t go, then he can’t go. We’ll see where he’s at.”
However, after the past two days of medical evaluation, Wells said in a release Wednesday evening that Keeton will be out for the foreseeable future.
“Chuckie’s health is our top priority and he has not been cleared to play by our medical staff. We will continue to monitor his progress throughout the fall, but given his current condition it is unlikely that he will play in any games in the foreseeable future.”
Keeton is a senior, so if he is not granted a medical redshirt, his college career is over.
He tore his left ACL and MCL in Utah State’s sixth game of the 2013 season. In the five previous games, he completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 1,362 yards, 18 touchdowns and two interceptions. Since 2011, he’s thrown for 6,387 yards and 58 scores to just 17 interceptions. Keeton is one of five FBS quarterbacks to throw for 6,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a career.
With Keeton out, Darell Garretson is the Aggies' quarterback for the immediate future. In a game and a half since replacing Keeton, the sophomore has completed 38 of 62 passes for 389 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Replacing Keeton for eight games last season, Garretson connected on 60.4 percent of his throws for 1,436 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
See More:
