Chuckie Keeton injury update: Aggies quarterback will miss Arkansas State game

Every Utah State fan was holding their breathe when star quarterback Chuckie Keeton did not return in the second half of the Wake Forest game, and seeing him limping was not a good sign. The fear was that Keeton aggravated the same knee which saw his season end last year due to a torn ACL.

There is good news out of Logan, Utah, when head coach Matt Wells gave positive news about his quarterbacks knee.

"Chuckie is fine from a health standpoint," Wells said at his weekly press conference. "The ACL is all intact; everything's good. But it's banged up, guys, and that's the bottom line.

"So, we're going to sit him out this week, and we're going to sit him out next week (USU has a bye). Then we're going to re-evaluate him during the BYU week."

Keeton is still recovering form that torn ACL from last year and so far in 2014 he was not the same quarterback prior to tearing his knee; there were plenty of up and downs in just a few games this season. The next time Keeton will likely be on the field will be in three weeks he faces the BYU team that ended his season last year.

Keeton went down on a non-contact play and needed help getting up, and then in the second half he was visibly seen limping in street clothes.

This is great news for Utah State as Keeton will likely miss only the Arkansas State game, and that his knee is still intact. Arkansas State is no Sun Belt pushover, but the Aggies are currently a field goal road favorite. In Keeton's place will be sophomore Darell Garretson and he proved to be a fine replacement when he was called upon to start the last half of the 2013 season.

"I have a tremendous amount of confidence - as does his teammates - in Darell Garretson," Wells said. "I think we're very confident in him, his talents, his abilities and his leadership ability.

"But just like last year, we have to do the same thing. We will have to play very well on defense, we're going to have to find ways to be difference makers on special teams, and guys on offense are going to have to play a little bit better around him."

Garretson led the Aggies to a 6-1 record in his seven starts and that included defeating Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl. He actually saw playing time in eight games last season where he set a freshman record by passing for 1,446 yards; Garretson also completed 60 percent of his passes to go along with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

In the second half in the Wake Forest game, Garretson did throw a bad interception but he recovered to complete 11 of 16 pass for 121 yards and one touchdown.

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