What DJ Durkin said about Auburn football QB plan for Iron Bowl

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AUBURN — Will Ashton Daniels or Deuce Knight be Auburn football‘s starting quarterback for its Iron Bowl regular-season finale? All signs point to the former, based on interim head coach DJ Durkin‘s comments Monday, Nov. 24.

Durkin didn’t expressly say who would be QB1 against No. 10 Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 29, but he didn’t shoot down the notion of Daniels starting when asked. He also didn’t rule out Knight seeing the field.

“That’s a great idea,” Durkin said when asked about Knight playing. “I’ll take that back upstairs and see if we can get that done.”

Daniels sat out last weekend when Auburn beat FCS Mercer 62-17, in an effort to preserve the senior’s redshirt. Seeing the field against the Bears would’ve nixed Daniels’ redshirt, and his first start under Durkin saw one of the best performances of his career. He registered 442 total yards and four touchdowns, throwing for 353 yards on 31-for-44 (71.5%) passing in an overtime loss at Vanderbilt.

“I think it was really providing him a plan he had confidence in,” Durkin said of Daniels against the Commodores. “We wanted to build around him. His teammates responded well to his leadership. It was kind of like, ‘OK, let’s focus on what he does well, who he gets the ball to and make it about that.'”

Durkin said it’s “crucial” to have Daniels back when asked if the senior would start, and he didn’t stop to clarify where Daniels sat on the depth chart. As for Knight’s performance against Mercer, Durkin said it was what Auburn “expected from him.”

Knight tied a pair of single-game program records, with the fastest touchdown in program history and most touchdowns responsible for in a single game. His 401 total yards and six touchdowns earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

“He exceeded expectations, but we know what he’s capable of,” Durkin said. “I think I said this after the game, but one of the coolest things about Deuce is that he’s got that demeanor about him, where at no point did you feel like Deuce was nervous. … I think that’s great as a teammate, when your quarterback looks that way. That puts a calm on everyone around him.”

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: What DJ Durkin said about Iron Bowl QB plan for Auburn football

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