What you need to know about Auburn football freshman QB Deuce Knight
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AUBURN — Deuce Knight is making a highly anticipated debut against Mercer on Saturday, Nov. 22, as the five-star freshman quarterback will start for Auburn football with senior Ashton Daniels sitting out.
It’s the first start of Knight’s young career. He has already seen the field once this fall, albeit briefly, in the Tigers’ Week 2 victory against Ball State. But as Daniels and Jackson Arnold went back and forth helming Auburn‘s offense for a span of weeks, Knight’s name was hardly in the mix.
Here’s three things to know about Knight as he makes the first start of his college career.
How much has Deuce Knight played this fall?
Knight has played just 14 snaps this fall, seeing the field for the fourth quarter in Auburn’s 42-3 win against Ball State in Week 2. The freshman was 2-for-5 passing, with 20 yards, and he rushed for 16 yards on four carries.
Deuce Knight reminded Hugh Freeze of one of his best quarterbacks ever
During the offseason, Auburn’s former head coach said his latest quarterback signee reminded him of one of his best quarterbacks ever, Malik Willis.
“He (Knight) has the demeanor about himself, like Malik did, that people gravitate to and want to follow,” Freeze said Dec. 4. “Malik had this humility about him also, even though he carried this great confidence. I think Deuce has that.”
Willis signed with Auburn out of high school before transferring to Liberty in 2019. He was named the Flames’ starting quarterback in 2020, and through two seasons helped Liberty to an 18-6 record, throwing for 5,122 yards and 48 touchdowns, rushing for another 1,822 yards and 27 touchdowns.
“I think his ceiling is probably the highest of anybody that I’ve initially worked with,” Freeze said of Knight. “He’s just so long and rangy and can run, and (the) arm strength. He’s got all of those skillsets.”
Deuce Knight shined in high school before picking Auburn football
Knight was consensus five-star prospect, with 247Sports, On3 and Rivals each rating him so highly in some regard. The left-hander was a top-30 prospect among those sites, and his production backed up those rankings.
In his final two high school seasons, split between Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, and George County (Miss.) High School, Knight combined for 4,958 yards of total offense and 51 touchdowns. He completed 56.8% of his passes, averaging 8.6 yards per attempt.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Three things to know about Auburn football QB Deuce Knight
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