Deuce Knight made an impressive first career start as he became the second quarterback in school history with four rushing touchdowns and also threw for two scores as Auburn pulled away for a 62-17 victory over visiting Mercer on Saturday afternoon.
Knight got the start as Auburn (5-6) opted to sit Ashton Daniels to preserve the Stanford transfer’s redshirt status before possibly bringing him back for next week’s Iron Bowl against Alabama.
Knight scored on a 75-yard TD on the first play and had a 51-yard run with 28 seconds left in the first quarter after Auburn fell behind 14-7. Knight snapped a 14-14 tie with a nine-yard score with eight minutes left in the second and then put the Tigers up 28-17 with a 20-yard gain with 1:15 left in the first half.
Knight also threw a 10-yard TD to Cam Coleman with three seconds left after an interception by Kaleb Harris. He also showed his arm strength by throwing a 91-yarder to Malcolm Simmons with 8:22 left in the third.
Knight rushed for 162 yards on nine attempts, joining Cam Newton (2010) as the second quarterback in school history with four rushing TDs. He also completed 15 of 20 passes for 239 yards.
Knight also tied a school record by tying Newton (2010) and Cadillac Williams (2003) with six total TDs.
Malcolm Simmons caught five passes for 149 yards and Cam Coleman finished with five catches for 65 yards.
Jackson Arnold finished the game and rushed for a 56-yard TD with about five minutes left as the Tigers totaled 547 yards of offense, including 270 yards on the ground.
Mercer (9-2), which is No. 6 in the FCS poll, saw a nine-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-14 against Auburn after staying in the game into the second quarter.
Mercer’s Braden Atkinson completed 20 of 33 passes for 210 yards. The freshman quarterback also threw an 8-yard TD to Adjatay Dabbs to give the Bears a 14-7 lead with 2:59 left.
Auburn went ahead 15 seconds in when Knight ran it untouched down the right side. After Dabbs converted a third down with a 32-yard catch, Miller tied it with a 1-yard run with 10:58 remaining.
Dabbs gave the Bears a 14-7 lead by snagging Atkinson’s throw in the back of the end zone with 2:59 left on a third down. Auburn tied it on a third-and-down when Knight cut to the middle before running down the right side.
