What Auburn football said about QB Deuce Knight getting his shot against Mercer
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AUBURN — The offense isn’t Malik Blocton‘s side of the ball to worry about, but he’s confident in whoever’s under center for Auburn football.
“All three of them are proven winners, so it don’t matter,” the sophomore defensive lineman said Tuesday, Nov. 18. “It’s no drop-off.”
That’ll be the case for the Tigers this weekend when they face FCS Mercer on Saturday, Nov. 22 (1 p.m. CT, SEC+). Ashton Daniels isn’t playing, in an effort to secure the senior’s redshirt, but it’s unclear who will start. Interim coach DJ Durkin said Auburn‘s two other scholarship passers, Deuce Knight and Jackson Arnold, will both see the field.
But if it’s Knight, a five-star freshman, gets the lion’s share of reps? “I’ll feel more like a fan going into the game,” Blocton said.
Blocton’s presumably in the majority. Knight was the crown jewel of what’d be Hugh Freeze’s final signing class on the Plains. He was tabbed by his former coach as the future of the program, but he has played 14 snaps this season despite a flurry of change under center.
Knight threw for nearly 4,000 yards his final two seasons as a high-schooler and nearly rushed for 1,000. It has seemed like the logical choice to give him a spin, especially as Freeze’s job security was flailing. But that chance is coming for what could only be one game.
“He does it all,” offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright said of Knight. “Running, he can throw. Left-handed quarterback, he can do it all. Guys are ready to see him go out there and compete.”
A start appears likely. Knight ran with Auburn’s first rotation of offense during its team practice period Tuesday. But the key of Knight, Wright said, is to come into the contest with confidence. That echoes what Durkin has said, and the interim indicated this week it’s partially a responsibility of Knight’s teammates.
“It’s up to us to help him build that,” Wright said, later adding, “I feel like he’s going to go out there and dominate. All the quarterbacks have been doing a good job. Him getting his shot, he’s going to go out there and do a hell of a job.”
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: Auburn football reacts to QB Deuce Knight playing against Mercer
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