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We all know Chuckie Keeton is great, right?
Right.
You would be hard pressed to find a college football fan in this state, Utah, BYU, or otherwise, that doesn't consider Chuckie the best QB in the state of Utah right now. I mean, Jeremiah Jensen and I just put together an entire story about how successful the guy is going to be in the NFL; with him behind center for the Aggie offense, they have a chance to do some special things this season.
But what if he's not behind center?
What if we lose him to injury?
I know, it's a horrible thing to say. Your reaction to the mere thought of this occurring is probably not unlike this.
But this is reality people and with all the great things that come with having a dual-threat quarterback, there comes a great risk of injury.
We lost Chuckie his freshman season after this devastating hit. There are no guarantees it won't happen again and if it does, there is no Adam Kennedy to step in and take over. We all have to be prepared mentally and emotionally if such a nasty, no good thing happens; so with that in mind let's take a look at the back-up quarterback situation and see who will be the guy if the unthinkable happens.
Craig Harrison-,Grantsville High School Harrison, a junior, has been the primary back up since Adam Kennedy went down with an injury last season. Harrison got his start at Grantsville High School in 2006, where he threw for 1,105 yards, 15 touchdowns, and a completed 70 percent of his passes. From there he went to Snow College where all he did was lead the Badgers to the Top of the Mountains Bowl title in 2011; passing for 2,181 yards and 19 touchdowns along the way. He was the most consistent back up during the spring and I don't see him losing his back up job any time soon.
**Jeff Manning-**Logan High School The offensive machine from Logan High School. He led his team to a state championship as a junior in 2007. His senior year, he amassed 4,001 yards of total offense with 53 total touchdowns; 53 TOUCHDOWNS! When all was said and done at Logan, he had 6,771 yards of total offense, the third most in state history.
If he can channel that guy at Utah State, the redshirt freshman will no doubt be the back-up and just might end up being the starter when Chuckie starts tearing it up in the NFL.
**Jordan Brown-**Alta High School The biggest surprise of the spring, was the play of freshman Jordan Brown. I don't know if I should be surprised considering how he played at Alta his senior season; 2,850 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He ran the 3rd team offense with confidence and had 2 of the best touchdown passes in the spring, both of them going to DwayneLorick. While I don't think he'll be in the mix in 2013, down the road we could see some special things from this kid.
**Darrell Garretson-**Chandler High School, Arizona The dark horse. Garretson decommitted from San Jose State and committed to the Aggies in February.
Remember the year after Diondre Borel left, and there was a question as to who the starting QB was going to be?
Kennedy was brought in from junior college to compete with Alex Hart in the spring; and no matter how well either of them played, Gary Andersen always referred to this kid Chuckie Keeton, who going to come in and compete for the job for the fall. He almost glowed whenever he referred to him.
Matt Wells is doing almost the same thing with Garretson.
Now I'm not saying Garretson is Keeton, all I'm saying is there is that same glow around Wells as there was around Andersen whenever they talk about him.
Wells brought Garretson up during spring ball when talking about the backup battle, "That will be all the way down to the Thursday before the Utah game," he said. "That's a battle that will go through all summer and there's a young man that's going to walk in here June the 3rd and he'll be right smack dab in the middle of it too."
And why not, have you seen his highlights?
He runs the option well and throws a beautiful, deep ball.
I see only one of two things happening with Garretson; he's either named the back up in week one or gets red-shirted to save a year of eligibility.
