Auburn freshman quarterback Deuce Knight is expected to start at quarterback on Saturday against Mercer, per Tom Loy of 247Sports.
The news comes after interim head coach DJ Durkin announced on Monday that Ashton Daniels would preserve his redshirt status for next season and would not play on Saturday.
Knight, the No. 6 quarterback prospect in the 2025 class, per 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, saw action against Ball State in the Tigers’ home opener and completed 2-of-5 passes for 20 yards while adding 16 yards on the ground on four carries.
“I feel like Deuce has a lot of great football ahead of him, and he hasn’t had that opportunity. He is going to get that opportunity,” Durkin said on Monday. “And you can just tell a difference. We practiced last night, and you can tell a difference in him right there.”
“I think with Deuce, it’s like any other guy. You give him a plan, and you give him the right tools to help him that suit his strengths. I think, again, it’s about the teammates around you. The quarterback position gets the spotlight, obviously,” Durkin added later. “They often get more credit than they deserve and definitely get more blame than they deserve, but it’s about the guys around you. I think Deuce understands that, too. He’s got great players around him, and his job is to be the distributor of the ball to those guys, and that’s what we’re going to ask him to do."
Kickoff against Mercer is set for 1 p.m. on SECN+.
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