After finishing 8-5 in it’s debut season in the Pac-12, the Utah Utes were looking to get off to a great start in 2012. Utah won their first game against Northern Colorado by pitching a shutout.
Utah’s second opponent in 2012 was the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference. In 2011, Utah State won seven games and went bowling but they didn’t beat anybody of note.
Utah had a 12 game winning streak against Utah State coming into this game. Utah State had not beaten their in-state rival since 1997. Utah was a seven point favorite and as the home team, they were expected to win this game.
As a sophomore, QB Chuckie Keeton had other thoughts.
Utah State jumped on top with a blocked punt return for a TD.
Chuckie Keeton then led the Aggies on a 72 yard drive. The drive was capped by Keeton throwing a 15 yard TD pass to Joe Hill. Utah lost QB Jordan Wynn to an injury, but still managed to kick a FG at the end of the half as they went into the locker room trailing 13-3.
Utah came out of the locker room and immediately turned a Utah State turnover into seven points. Later in the quarter, USU turned it over again and Utah again put points on the board. At the end of the third quarter this game was tied at 13 and shaping up to be a nail biter.
They traded TDs in the fourth quarter. First, Chuckie Keeton hit Kellen Bartlett on a 4 yard TD pass. Then, Jon Hays connected with Kenneth Scott on a 24 yard TD pass. Utah had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds but came up short on a 52 yard FG.
Is there a better ending to an in-state rivalry game (even if that rivalry has been one-sided) than overtime?
In overtime, it was Chuckie Keeton who was the hero. Keeton set up the winning score by running for 23 yards on 3rd and 9 from the Utah 24. On the next play, Kerwynn Williams took it in for the TD. Utah State then held Utah on Utah’s OT possession and the Aggies pulled off the upset.
Utah got their win back in 2013. In 2015, Utah comes in with momentum and confidence. Last week they beat Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines in Harbaugh’s debut. Utah comes into the “Battle of Brothers” as big favorites. Can the Aggies once again pull the upset in Chuckie Keeton’s last game against the Utes?
