LOGAN — Over the last couple of years, as summer turned to fall and fans' interest turned to college football, Utah State University's hopes for success rode on the rocket arm and fleet feet of quarterback Chuckie Keeton.
Unfortunately, in both 2013 and 2014, Keeton's seasons were cut short by devastating knee injuries. When Chuckie went down, just three games into the 2014 season and little more than five games into the 2013 campaign, Aggie fans feared the worst.
And who could blame them?
But despite the loss of their dynamic QB, something truly magical happened in Cache Valley — other players stepped up, and the Aggies kept winning and winning and winning some more without him.
Indeed, after years of frustration, Utah State's program has finally turned the corner, and the Aggies' football fortunes no longer rest on the shoulders of one stellar player, or two, or five or six. Now, they have a whole roster full of them.
And after decades of being the forgotten stepchild of college football in the Beehive State, the Aggies no longer have to take a back seat to Utah or BYU.
Sure, those programs still have a much higher profile with a majority of fans in this state, but the gap between them and USU has narrow significantly over the last few years.
Over the last three seasons, only four Football Bowl Subdivision schools have won at least 30 games and three bowl games — and USU is one of them. People are beginning to take notice nationally, and recruits have begun to believe in Utah State's resurgence.
Going 11-2, 9-5 and 10-4 over the last three seasons will do that.
"I think I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I truly believe it all started with (former USU head coach) Gary Andersen," said Matt Wells, who's entering his third season as Andersen's successor. "I feel very, very fortunate to be an assistant and a coordinator under him.
"I learned a lot from him about recruiting the state of Utah, the Polynesian pipeline, the missionary program, how we lift, how we train, how we do things off the field, the development of this program academically and socially, and setting a culture in that locker room. And our success is a combination of all of those things.
"These young men have shown a great ability at overcoming adversity in the form of injury," Wells said with well-deserved pride. "I don't ever take anything for granted. We try to reset the standard and reset the culture here every summer."
Gone, though, are those days when the Aggies floundered through losing season after losing season.
Andersen got the ball rolling in 2011 when he guided the Aggies to their first winning season (8-6) in seemingly forever and got 'em to a bowl game. Then came those back-to-back-to-back campaigns with nine or more victories and a bowl triumph each year, and those dark days of the Aggies' program have definitely been put in the rearview mirror.
What's more, USU's facilities have vastly improved over the past few years, which goes hand in hand with the ability to recruit better athletes.
And more improvements are on the horizon.
Wells gives the credit to anyone but himself.
"The biggest difference is the leadership from above — the school president, the athletic director, the donors, the alumni and the community support they've put into the program," Wells said. "We've been able to hire the right assistant coaches and been able to retain them where they've turned down other jobs to stay at Utah State. That didn't use to happen here.
"As far as the players and their buy-in to what we're doing, we try to equip them as far as their leadership goes, and it has become a player-led and a player-driven program instead of a coach-led program. At times of adversity and toughness, our players have pushed it over the top and led us a little bit better, and then we've gotten a chance to have some special seasons.
"I'm very proud of our university, very proud of our program and the people who have supported it," said Wells, a former Utah State quarterback. "But you can never feel like you have everything taken care of or get too comfortable in this business."
Perhaps that's why the Utah State program continues to make strides forward. The guy who's holding their reins is a dynamic head coach who knows how to lead from the front, continually wants to improve and won't ever take anything for granted.
And all those guys surrounding him wearing Aggie Blue certainly now know how to get the job done, too.
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com
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