This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Logan • Just a few days ago Utah State coach Matt Wells was talking about how unpredictable football seasons can be, relating it to last year's adversity when Joe Hill and quarterback Chuckie Keeton suffered season-ending injuries. "You can't predict anything," he said. No you can't, but you can feel a little deja vu. The future looks uncertain once more for the Aggies' offense as Keeton sat out the second-half of the Aggies 36-24 win over Wake Forest Saturday in Romney Stadium with a leg injury. Keeton came out of the locker room after the half on crutches favoring his surgically repaired left knee and watched sophomore Darell Garretson close out the win. Keeton was 20-of-27 for 166 yards passing and a touchdown in the first half with one interception that was returned for a touchdown. He had four carries for a loss of four yards. Garretson finished 11-of-16 for 121 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Garretson is familiar with stepping into a bad situation as he became Utah State's starting quarterback last season when Keeton suffered his season-ending knee injury against BYU on Oct. 4. Garretson started the final seven games, going 6-1 as a starter. He was 126-of-209 for 1,446 yards and 10 touchdowns with seven interceptions. On Saturday, Garretson's first series went badly as he threw an interception that was returned to Utah State's 10-yard line, setting up a Wake Forest touchdown. The Demon Deacons scored again on their next possession, cutting Utah State's lead to 29-21, but Garretson settled down and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Wyatt Houston with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter to end the slide. Utah State's defense, which played superb in the first half, closed out the game for the Aggies. Wake Forest was held to -25 yards rushing on 24 carries. The Aggies managed just 60 yards on 35 carries, but a consistent passing game and some opportunistic scoring by the defense earned the win.Zach Vigil returned one interception for a touchdown, Devin Centers returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception by Frankie Sutera set up another easy Aggie score, helping the Aggies lead 29-7 at halftime.