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At this point, Vol fans must be tired of hearing the name “Chuckie Keeton”. Gameday will be no exception.
Keeton is an elusive dual-threat quarterback that has received plenty of preseason hype. His name has made several awards watch lists including Bleacher Report and Hesimanpundit/CBS.Sports.com‘s Heisman Trophy watch list. This is all despite missing the majority of his junior season after suffering a knee injury against BYU in 2013 and missing the team’s spring drills.
If healthy, Keeton will cap off a decorate career as Utah State’s all-time leading quarterback in several categories. Keeton ranks first all-time in school history in career completion percentage (.665), second in career touchdown passes (56) and career completions (517), third in total offense for a career (7,114 yards), sixth in career passing yards (5,961), seventh in career passing attempts (777) and 22nd in career rushing yards (1,153).
Keeton has the ability to make plays through the air and on the ground equally. Last season, Tennessee struggled against mobile quarterbacks. The Vols defense was exploited by Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, Auburn’s Nick Marshall and Missouri’s Maty Mauk in three blowout losses. Keeton is believed to be in the elite class of college quarterbacks, despite playing for a relatively small program. Tennessee will have its hands full trying to stop the elusive Keeton.
The Vols’ defense has zero starting experience at defensive line. The linebacking corps, however, has two potential All-SEC players in A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt and a talented rising sophomore in Jalen Reeves-Maybin. If the Vols contain Keeton, they should have enough of a talent advantage elsewhere to hold on to victory. However, if Keeton breaks out to a Heisman worthy game, Tennessee could be facing a serious upset tonight.
A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky
