SEATTLE — Back in 2012, before Chuckie Keeton sustained two major knee injuries, there seemed no ceiling for what Utah State’s quarterback might accomplish.
Keeton was only a sophomore then, but his dual-threat capabilities helped lead the Aggies to the WAC championship and earned him first-team all-league honors. He threw for 3,373 yards and 27 touchdowns, rushed for 619 yards and another eight touchdowns, and led the Aggies to an 11-2 finish — including a thrilling home win over rival Utah — in Gary Anderson’s final season as coach at Utah State.
The sky, it appeared, was the limit. Heisman Trophy consideration in 2013 did not seem out of the question. Then came the injuries — a torn ACL six games into 2013, then a torn ACL and MCL in the same knee three games into 2014 — and Keeton hasn’t had much of a chance since to prove he can still be the same player who so captivated the city of Logan three years ago.
But his resolve remains, and he’s back for a fifth year after being granted a medical redshirt waiver. Keeton leads Utah State (1-1) into Saturday’s game against Washington (1-1) at Husky Stadium.
And while Huskies coach Chris Petersen never actually coached against Keeton in the WAC or Mountain West — his injury in 2013 came the week before the Aggies hosted Boise State — he is familiar enough with Keeton’s exploits to know that he could still be a handful for the Huskies’ defense.
“He’s just a great competitor and just plays very hard,” Petersen said. “He always seemed at the end of the games (to be) just kind of dragging himself around, because he’ll go and he’s not afraid to run the ball and take a shot and get hit and do whatever he needs to do to help his team win.”
Like last week at Utah, where Keeton took a low, late hit to his knee on a third-down pass in the first quarter. He came up limping, and appeared hobbled for the rest of the game. But he stuck it out, finished the game 22-of-32 passing for 256 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and afterward told reporters, simply: “I took a hit. I’m good.”
Keeton also rushed for 46 yards on 12 carries, and his mobility at the quarterback position poses a challenge the Huskies didn’t see from either Boise State or Sacramento State.
“He’s a guy we’ve got to do a good job of getting off blocks and have great leverage on him,” UW defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said. “And we’ve got to get more than one guy around him to tackle him, because he’s a good enough athlete that he makes guys miss.”
Utah State coach Matt Wells said the Aggies training staff checked Keeton’s knee before every series last week after he took the illegal hit, but “of course, he wasn’t going to come out.”
Wells said Keeton had “one of the gutsier performances I’ve seen out of him. He was just a warrior down to the very end, and gives your team a chance to win every time he’s in there.”
Because the Aggies played on Friday last week, UW defensive tackle and Archbishop Murphy grad Taniela Tupou said he was able to watch their game against Utah. He came away impressed by Keeton and the rest of Utah State’s team. The Aggies might be receiving a $1 million payment from UW to play this game, but they’re not the kind of pushover typically associated with such a financial figure.
Keeton, Tupou said, is “a beast. He knows what he’s doing. He can move that pocket. He can throw the ball. He’s a threat on the ground and in the air. Utah State overall, they’re a really good team. It’s an honor to play them. We’re excited.”
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