The Auburn Tigers are set to start true freshman quarterback Deuce Knight Saturday against the Mercer Bears, according to a report from Tomy Loy of 247Sports. He is taking over for Ashton Daniels, who is sitting out the game so that he can preserve his redshirt.

Knight has played in one game this season, appearing late in their blowout win over Ball State. The former five-star prospect completed two of his five passes for 20 yards. He also ran for 16 yards on four attempts.

Auburn interim head coach DJ Durkin said earlier in the week that the Tigers would play both Knight and Jackson Arnold, who was the starting quarterback to begin the season but lost his job. He expressed optimism in both players and what they can accomplish.

"I’m looking at both yesterday and they are both tremendously excited about this," he said. "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. And you can just tell a difference. We practiced last night, you can tell a difference in him right there. And I think the same with Jackson. Jackson’s a talented guy. We’re going to put together a great plan for both these guys to have success, and I told the team it’s their job to rally around them, and I know those guys will. They feel strongly about that. I am looking forward to how the entire team responds.“

Durkin also explained what he is looking to see from Knight against Mercer.

"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," he explained.

Knight was Auburn's highest-rated commit in their 2025 recruiting class, which 247Sports ranked as the 6th best in the country. He was the No. 28 overall player and No. 5 quarterback in the 247Sports composite.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Auburn Tigers to start true freshman QB Deuce Knight against Mercer, per report

Reporting by JD McCarthy, College Sports Wire / College Sports Wire

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