Harrison to start Saturday as Aggies await results of Garretson injury


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LOGAN — In the Utah State football media guide, senior quarterback Craig Harrison’s intangibles were spelled out in two sentences at the beginning of the 2014 season.

“A good leader who has great knowledge of the offense,” the one-column biography in the guide read, “a big, intelligent quarterback with a strong arm.”

As the third-string quarterback coming into the year, the quote probably wasn’t originally going to change much during the season. But it might now.

Utah State coach Matt Wells announced Harrison as the starter for Saturday afternoon’s home game against UNLV after sophomore Darell Garretson suffered an injury on his throwing arm in last week’s 16-13 loss at Colorado State. The Chandler, Arizona, product was the second starting quarterback to miss action in 2014, following senior Chuckie Keeton’s season-ending knee injury in the third game of the year.

“That means play a little better, whether it’s special teams, defense, wideouts, running game, all of the above,” Wells said during his weekly press conference Monday. “We control how we view things; nobody else does. Not the media, not other teams; no one else. We understand that there are two things we can control, and that is our attitude and our effort.”


That means play a little better, whether it's special teams, defense, wideouts, running game, all of the above. We control how we view things; nobody else does. Not the media, not other teams; no one else. We understand that there are two things we can control, and that is our attitude and our effort.

–Utah State head coach Matt Wells


Harrison, who played two years at Snow College before transferring to Utah State in 2012, played in nine games in 2013 and made his first career start against Boise State. He completed 35 of 74 passes on the year for 434 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Garretson underwent a battery of tests, including an MRI, on Monday while the team awaited the full extent of his injuries. But Wells is confident in Harrison leading the program going forward, and in current backup Kent Myers, a true freshman from Rowlett, Texas.

“Coming out of fall camp, (Myers) was on our scout team,” Wells said. “Guys got hurt. I can’t make Darell healthy and I can’t make Chuckie healthy. You can go from fourth to second string just like that and you have to be ready. He had a good look in his eye this morning. He’ll be ready if called upon.”

The Aggies have seen their fair share of quarterback shuffling since Keeton stepped into the starting role for eight games as a freshman in 2011. The team knows what it has to do, even on defense, junior defensive end Jordan Nielsen said.

“It’s really similar (to last year),” Nielsen said. “Last year, we trusted Darell, and we had to play harder as a defense. This year, we trust Craig just as much. We expect him to come out and play at a high level. We just need to step it up and help him out, too.”

Sophomore center Austin Stephens hasn’t worked with Harrison much in one-on-one situations, but he said the offensive line is ready for whoever steps into the back field for Utah State.

“We believe in everyone that gets back there, and we believe they can do great things for us,” he said. “It’s the same every week. We just have to rally behind him and get behind him and we have to do the same thing we’ve been doing. We have to protect him and run the ball efficiently. If we do that, it’ll make Craig’s job a lot easier.”

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