This time last year, Deuce Knight was competing in the high school playoffs as George County’s quarterback. Now, he’s gearing up to get his inaugural start at the collegiate ranks.
Knight, a freshman southpaw at Auburn (4-6, 1-6 SEC), will take first-team snaps on Saturday in the Tigers’ penultimate regular-season matchup against Mercer, as reported by Tom Loy with 247Sports. Interim head coach D.J. Durkin made the move to go with the young signal-caller after the bye week. Backup Ashton Daniels started in Auburn’s two most recent games.
Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold started the 2025 campaign for the Tigers, but was benched by former front man Hugh Freeze in the team’s 33-24 win at Arkansas. Freeze was fired earlier this month for losing 12 of his last 15 SEC games. As for Knight, the Lucedale native has only seen the field once this year. The former four-star who chose Auburn over Ole Miss completed two of five passes for 20 yards and had four carries for 16 yards in the Tigers’ 42-3 win over Ball State in September.
The move to start Knight is a strategic one, as Daniels has already appeared in three games this season. If Daniels, a Stanford transfer, were to play on Saturday, he would have to sit out against the Crimson Tide to preserve his redshirt. Auburn staff feel confident in the young Knight to lead a winning effort over the Bears, especially given the fact that the Tigers are favored by nearly four touchdowns in the matchup.
Mississippians looking to watch the homegrown field general in action on Saturday can do so by tuning in to SEC Network+ at 1 p.m. CT.