Hugh Freeze's Auburn football program had 2025 4-star QB Deuce Knight present on the Plains at Jordan-Hare Stadium for a second straight week -- but the Tigers seemingly blew a golden opportunity to clinch his recruitment after a 21-14 loss to Cal.
Or did they blow that golden opportunity...
Despite a loss that featured four Payton Thorne interceptions and several fumbles from the RB room and special teams, Auburn didn't have the most embarrassing loss of the week. Instead, that dishonor goes to Notre Dame, who lost to NIU 16-14 on a missed go-ahead field goal as time expired.
The Fighting Irish currently have Knight's commitment. That they lost to a Group of 5 school on their homefield gives Auburn some grace. Not much, but some.
Deuce Knight unsure about Notre Dame and Auburn football
Ole Miss may start to look like the best choice for the George County QB. Lane Kiffin and Co. were in on the Lucedale, Mississippi native before they fell behind the Tigers and Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame looks like it'll forever be stalled in the Marcus Freeman era and Freeze may see his seat warm up if these kinds of unfathomable losses continue.
Between Knight's "recruiting break" with Auburn and his wandering eyes straying from Notre Dame, his recruitment may be far from settled.
And with time to right the ship, Freeze's Tigers are still in play. Unless watching Auburn lose as a major favorite in person was too disappointing for Knight to overcome. That he's spending two weeks in Auburn as a Notre Dame commit in the first place still likely bodes well for AU.
But the proof of concept needs to be evident soon enough. And Thorne cannot be the one attempting to show it. He's been unable to thus far. Knight will want to start right away but he won't want to join a team that has had four losing seasons in a row.