AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn freshman quarterback Deuce Knight will make his first start for the Tigers when they host Mercer in a nonconference matchup Saturday.
Interim head coach DJ Durkin made the announcement Thursday, three days after saying senior Ashton Daniels would skip the game to preserve a year of eligibility. Daniels is expected to return to the starting lineup next week, when the Tigers (4-6, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) close the regular season by hosting No. 10 Alabama (8-2, 6-1) in the Iron Bowl rivalry game.
“He’s earned it,” Durkin said of Knight. “He’s done a great job, and we’re excited to see him go play.”
Knight hasn’t seen much action this season, but the 6-foot-4, 217-pounder did take a handful of snaps during Auburn’s 42-3 home win against Mid-American Conference member Ball State on Sept. 16. He was 2-of-5 passing for 20 yards in that game and rushed for 16 yards.
Knight got the nod over junior Jackson Arnold, who has played in nine games this year in his first season since transferring from Oklahoma, throwing for 1,278 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. However, he is still expected to play against Mercer (9-1), one of the top teams in the country this year in NCAA Division I’s lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
“They’re both going to play in the game, and they’re both going to play well,” Durkin said. “They’re both prepared, and we have a good plan for both of them.”
Auburn, which must beat both Mercer and Alabama to gain bowl eligibility, is returning from an open date after losing 45-38 in overtime at Vanderbilt on Nov. 8. That was Durkin’s first game as interim coach, a role he was promoted to when Hugh Freeze was fired on Nov. 1, a day after the Tigers’ 10-3 loss at Kentucky dropped them to 4-5 in their third season under his direction.
It’s the regular-season finale for Mercer, a Southern Conference member from Macon, Georgia. The Bears completed an 8-0 run through league play with last week’s 63-17 home win against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and were the SoCon’s outright champion for the second year in a row. Ranked sixth in the FCS coaches poll and seventh in the Stats Perform Top 25, they are moving on to their subdivision’s 24-team postseason that begins this month.