The Auburn Tigers picked up a tremendous 62-17 win over the Mercer Bears on Saturday, and the Tigers' offense was led by none other than true freshman Deuce Knight.
It was Knight's first start in orange and blue, and it was the first glimpse of what the future could hold for the Auburn football team should Knight stick around amid the coaching change. It was an extremely impressive debut, with Knight running for a 75-yard touchdown on his very first play of the game.
He went on to rack up 162 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns and completed 15 of 20 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He was the first Auburn quarterback to score four rushing touchdowns since Cam Newton in 2010.
While one does realize that Knight and the Tigers were up against a lower-division team this weekend, Knight was impressive to the point where the question must be asked: Will he end up being the starter for the Tigers next week against Alabama in the Iron Bowl? Interim Head Coach DJ Durkin gave a predictable answer when asked in his post-game presser.
"That's what we've seen from Deuce in practice and know he's capable of," Durkin said. "It was really cool to watch him go do it in a game and that atmosphere. That guy's got some great football ahead of him. Again, as we go into next week, we'll evaluate film and make decisions on all that. Coming right out of the game, I think there's always emotion tied to things, and you've got to watch the film and evaluate as coaches. We'll go through all that and make decisions at all positions."
Knight's starting nod came as the decision was made last week to sit Ashton Daniels in order to preserve his redshirt. Now, it seems there will be an end-of-season QB battle in practice to see who leads the Tigers' offense against the Crimson Tide.