The Auburn Tigers 62-17 victory over the Mercers Bears was the Deuce Knight show on Saturday.
The freshman quarterback was making his first college start and he did not disappoint. Knight totaled 401 yards and six touchdowns as the Tigers put up 547 total yards. Another key for Knight was he took care of the football and did not turn the ball over. In his first game of the season versus Ball State he struggled with that when he entered a game that was well in-hand.
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Knight started the game by showing the Auburn faithful what he is capable of. On the first play of the game when Knight could not find anyone to throw to he took for a 75-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers a 7-0. “All you gotta do is run when it’s all blocked up,” Knight said after the game. He did the entire game for the Tigers. He added four more rushing touchdowns in the first half of 51, 9, and 20 yards. Knight totaled 162 yards on the ground in the win.
He was not just effective rushing and showed his ability as a passer versus Mercer. Knight went 15 of 20 for 239 yards and two passing touchdowns. He seemed to have a great connection with Malcolm Simmons, who ended the day with five catches for 149 yards and one touchdown. Auburn was up 42-17 when Knight connected with Simmons on a 91-yard touchdown to go up 49-17 with 8:08 in the third. On the play, Knight was flushed out of the pocket to the right when he found an open Simmons. Once he caught the ball the Mercer defense was not going to catch him.
Earlier in the game he connected with Cam Coleman for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put Auburn up 35-17. Coleman finished the game with five receptions for 65 yards and the one touchdown. After the game two observations can be made about Knight. He was having a lot of fun on the field, and he was very appreciative of his teammates. Knight gave all the credit to his teammates when asked about tying the Auburn record for most touchdowns responsible in his first start.
The reigns of starting quarterback will be passed back to Ashton Daniels on Saturday for the Iron Bowl, but Auburn saw the potential of Knight in this game versus Mercer. One of the biggest task of whoever is the next head coach is to make sure Knight is part of the future of the Tigers.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Deuce Knight shines in Auburn’s 62-17 win over Mercer
