Great quarterback, even better person: Chuckie Keeton leaves lasting legacy at Utah State

LOGAN, Utah – Chuckie Keeton has come to grips with what has turned out to be an injury-riddled career at Utah State.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound redshirt senior quarterback missed the final eight games of his junior campaign in 2013 after suffering a knee injury against BYU on Oct. 4. The following season, he played in just 2 1/2 games before re-injuring his surgically repaired left knee against Wake Forest on Sept. 13.

Keeton was sidelined for the remainder of the 2014 campaign, but received a medical redshirt from both the NCAA and Mountain West. He started the first three games of the 2015 season before suffering a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) sprain in his right knee against Washington, which again forced him to the bench.

“All these different things that have happened have probably made me better in life, which is ultimately going to last longer than football,” Keeton said. “Everything is going to be good and you’re going to be happy during times when you’re on top, but really, it’s when you’re at the bottom is when you have to search for who you really are as a person. I learned that here at Utah State. My big thing is to still keep my mind on the end goal, so if I can find a way to come out and get some wins for this team again and have a chance at playing football down the road, then that’s great. I just have to continue to improve myself as a person and as a player every single day.”

Prior to tearing the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee against BYU in 2013, Keeton was putting up some pretty gaudy numbers. Through the first five games of that season, he ranked second in the nation with 17 touchdown passes. The native of Houston, Texas, concluded the year by completing 136-of-196 passes for 1,388 yards and 18 touchdowns, compared to just two interceptions.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for that young man for first of all, the type of person that he is both academically and socially and what he means to this program, but on a bigger scale, what he means to this school and the kind of representative he is,” Utah State head coach Matt Wells said. “Whether he is lighting it on fire as a sophomore up through the first six games of his junior – he was as hot as any quarterback in the country – to being saddled with all these injuries since that BYU, he hasn’t changed off the field, he hasn’t changed academically and he hasn’t changed from a leadership standpoint.”

Keeton will go down as one of the best players to ever quarterback the Aggies. His stats attest to that. After all, he ranks first all-time in career touchdown passes (61), first in career interception percentage (0.022) and tied for first in career completion percentage (.631).

He is also first all-time among quarterbacks and 14th overall with 1,416 career rushing yards on 319 carries (4.4 ypc). Keeton is one of just 27 players in school history to rush for 1,000 yards and just the second quarterback along with Diondre Borel.

Entering the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Akron on Tuesday, Dec. 22, in Boise, Idaho, Keeton is just 97 yards away from setting the school record for total offense in a career. Jose Fuentes (2000-02) holds the record with 8,791 yards of total offense.

On top of that, Keeton is one rushing touchdown shy of tying the school record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback at 17, which is currently held by Diondre Borel (2007-10).

As a sophomore, Keeton set five single-season school records and he is the only quarterback in school history to throw five touchdown passes in three separate games.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Chuckie Keeton and I always will,” Wells said. “I don’t know what else I can say about that young man, and what he’s meant to me and what he’s meant to this program, and the kind of teammate he is and the kind of person he is. He will go a long way in life and be very successful in whatever field he chooses.”

Records are nice and all, but what Keeton cherishes the most is helping the Aggies capture the Western Athletic Conference championship in 2012 with a perfect 6-0 mark. It was Utah State’s first outright league title since 1936.

“Some people would say I helped in changing this program and I’d like to believe I did, but at the same time, I know a lot more people had more of an impact than I did,” the humble Keeton said. “I guess my thing is I have been able to stick around and translate to the younger guys what it was like and some of the steps it took to change the culture here. I’m happy to carry the torch from the guys that I used to play with. It’s really unique. People might feel a lot of pity for me, but I have no regrets. Weirdly enough, I’m not mad that I got hurt.”

During that championship run in 2012, the Aggies picked up one of their best victories in program history with a wild 48-41 win in overtime at No. 19 Louisiana Tech. Keeton accounted for 461 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. He was 20-of-34 passing for 340 yards with two touchdowns, to go along with 121 yards rushing and two more scores on 17 carries.

Not only did Utah State clinch a share of the WAC crown with the victory against Louisiana Tech, but Keeton set the single-season school records for touchdown passes (25) and total offense (3,538 yards in the game).

“You work every day for a conference championship and to beat a ranked team in overtime, to beat an offense that had a few guys go to the NFL and a guy who set a record that year, it pretty much showed what Utah State is all about,” Keeton said.

Keeton has proven to be a good mentor for the younger quarterbacks in the program like sophomore Kent Myers, a fellow Texas native.

“He’s been putting in a lot of extra work and I’ve seen him grow in these first two years,” Keeton said. “He’s been doing a great job and has been leading the team. He’s been doing everything that we need at the quarterback position so far to help us win games.”

First-year offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said during a recent telephone interview that Keeton is one of the most selfless players he has ever been around. Wells agreed.

“He gives and he doesn’t ask for anything in return,” Wells said. “He’s a very selfless young man that gives to the community, he gives to his teammates and he gives to others in need. He’s got a great deal of humility about him and it’s refreshing. I have a lot of respect for him. He was raised the right way by two great parents. He’s been nothing but a big-time success at Utah State in every area.”

The son of Charles and Lavern Keeton is majoring in business administration and is on track to graduate in December. Keeton says he wants to “milk out” all of his football opportunities before deciding his next path in life, which could include a return to the sidelines as a coach.

“Coaching is in my future. I’ve been watching a lot of ‘Bar Rescue,’ so that might be another option, too,” Keeton said with a laugh. “But, coaching is probably the next step after football and it will keep me involved with football. When I’m out here, I’m already dissecting things either on offense or defense, and why things are going on. It’s incredible to see. With the time I have spent off the field, I’ve been figuring out what I want to do as far as how I want to go about coaching, things that I’ve seen with our program that I like and also that I would change a little bit. This entire thing has been a learning experience.”

-USU-

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