With Keeton out, Myers named starter


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LOGAN — This season is far from the victory tour Aggie fans hoped it would be for fifth-year senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton.

Things only got worse when it was announced Tuesday that Keeton would miss four to six weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

"We'll move forward. I hate it, and I hate it for him," head coach Matt Wells said in his Tuesday conference call with the media.

Keeton injured the knee on the second drive of the Washington game when he was hit as he was throwing the ball away on a roll out.

Keeton had struggled early and often this season totaling 55 completions on 101 attempts (54.5 completion percentage) for only 537 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. While there are many factors going into why his numbers are so low Keeton clearly has not been himself this season.

The injury timeline could see Keeton return as early as the Oct. 16 game against Boise State, but his injury history puts a quick return in doubt. Keeton missed most of the 2013 and 2014 seasons with left knee injuries. In the game against Utah two weeks ago, Keeton suffered what looked like a mild hyperextension of the left knee that left him with a noticeable limp the rest of the game.

Wells also announced that sophomore quarterback Kent Myers would be the starter for the Colorado State game.

"He's a tremendous competitor, he loves to play and is a great teammate. He's a selfless individual, and I think you saw that with his willingness to move to receiver during spring camp," Wells said. "He's a really good player and our team will rally around him. We've got to play better around him. I've got a lot of confidence in Kent."

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Myers went 5-1 as a starter last year, including a bowl game victory over UTEP. Myers finished the season 79 of 119 for 866 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Myers showed a lot of promise in his short time last year and has hopefully developed more with an offseason in Utah State's system.

Wells has faith in Myers but knows quarterback play is just one of many factors for this Aggie team to improve moving forward.

"We have a lot of confidence in him, and the players have confidence in him. We know the recipe to have success," Wells said. "We've used it the last two years, but that doesn't guarantee us anything, though, for this year. We have to recreate that recipe, and that's a matter of everybody on offense playing well around the quarterback, playing better around the quarterback and playing great on defense."

Utah State's bye week could not have come at a better time for an offense that has looked anemic the majority of the time. Myers will have extra time to not only prepare for Colorado State but to also find rhythm with his receivers, including a recently returned Hunter Sharp.

Sophomore quarterback Damion Hobbs saw action against Washington and that role might continue to expand as the season wears on.

"We gave him some snaps in some things we wanted to get him into going forward," Wells said.

The loss of a player like Keeton is hard to stomach for fans of football everywhere. The simple — and sad — fact of the matter is that this offense, no matter who is running it, can't get worse.

Aggie fans will anxiously wait for the Oct. 3 matchup with Colorado State to see if Myers can be the man to resuscitate this dormant Aggie offense.


Parker Robertson is a graduate of Utah State University, a freelance contributor and an avid fan of sports. Follow me on Twitter @ParkerRob78 Email: ParkerRobertson18@gmail.com

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