Former five-star QB is ready to be next in line for Auburn

Auburn QB Deuce Knight to potentially get an opportunity

Again, Auburn is going to lean on Arnold, the Oklahoma transfer, for the rest of this season, but the Ball State game provides Knight an opportunity to get his feet wet in a real game.

According to ESPN's matchup predictor, the Tigers have a 98.5% chance of walking away from this game with a win. According to DraftKings, Auburn is a 43.5-point favorite in this one.

What this likely means is that Arnold will get the start, and he very well may be out of the game before halftime if everything goes smoothly.

That would allow Freeze to get Knight some in-game experience in front of the home crowd. You can't ask for a better situation for breaking in a young quarterback, and you can bet Auburn fans will be excited to see the kid who will more than likely be leading them in the future.

“If Jackson is having the year that we all expect and hope he has, it’d sure be nice to convince Deuce to play in a few games and get yourself ready, because we think Jackson’s gonna be gone,” Freeze had said in July, according to Peter Rauterkus of AL.com. “At the same time, Deuce is so talented, and his ceiling is high.”

Deuce Knight was a star high school quarterback  

Knight is a dual-threat quarterback by his very nature, so it will be interesting to see if he'll be able to pop off a few runs against Ball State. In 2024 at George County High School (Lucedale, Mississippi), he threw for 2,067 yards and 25 touchdowns compared to five interceptions while also running for 450 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

He missed some games because of injury, so those numbers could have been even greater.

Freeze and Auburn seem confident that those talents can translate to SEC football sooner rather than later.

“He can make every throw. He’s got a high football IQ and is coachable,” Freeze had said. “Not one excuse comes out of his mouth ever. So, he’ll be ready.”