The timing of Trevor Knight’s entrance to Texas A&M’s program is perfect for him, but the combination of his experience and inconsistency makes his future an enigma. In honor of Trevor Knight sporting No. 8 for the Aggies, eight things that I like and don’t like about the senior quarterback are listed below to make that mystery clearer.
Like
1. Experience
In its entire SEC stint so far, Texas A&M has not started an upperclassmen quarterback. The last one was Ryan Tannehill in the Big 12. Also, only one quarterback under Kevin Sumlin has received the nod at starter with more than two weeks before the first game, and that’s Johnny Manziel. With the lack of leadership at the position in the post-Manziel era, bringing in a senior with plenty experience should help, especially with a youthful offensive line.
2. Bama slayer
You could call Trevor Knight that after what he did in the 2013 Sugar Bowl. In just his fourth collegiate start, Knight put forth a 45-31 beat down on Alabama after throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns on 32-for-44 passing. Considering no team since 2002 has clinched an SEC West title after losing to Alabama, beating the Tide might be important.
3. Everything coming together with timing
Similarly with Kevin Sumlin in his time with the Aggies, Trevor Knight has never had an experienced offensive coordinator until now. He never started under Lincoln Riley, and Knight’s OC when he did — Josh Heupel — landed that position first with the Sooners. Noel Mazzone has held that title for over 20 years. His spread offense that features quick, high-percentage throws should limit Knight’s turnovers — especially with wideouts such as Christian Kirk, Speedy Noil and Josh Reynolds. Last year’s team only managed one healthy running back all year, so A&M’s stable of five this year will be a plus. Sumlin’s overall system has proven that mobile quarterbacks can have success, and Trevor Knight fits that billing.
4. Change in character
Whether one believes in Kyle Allen’s “Manziel Culture” theory or not, bad attitudes and liking Northgate a little too much have been themes with Sumlin’s A&M quarterbacks. Knight will take a few teammates, like he did at Oklahoma, to his fourth trip to Haiti this summer for mission work. When he lost the starting job at OU to Baker Mayfield, he was an active participant on the sidelines helping with whatever was the task at hand. In addition, Jake Hubenak is more of the same. After the starting job was announced, Hubenak seemed to be nothing but encouraging to his fellow teammate.
#BTHOucla pic.twitter.com/rtVBg90SGQ
— Jake Hubenak (@hubenak_j) April 12, 2016
Don’t like
1. Stats don’t show quality
For his career, Knight has a mere 25-to-19 TD-INT ratio. And in the one year he started, Knight threw 14 touchdowns while committing 12 turnovers through the air. His 10 2014 starts resulted in less than a 60-percent completion percentage and only 230 yards passing per game. These numbers in the SEC West would most likely hand A&M another 7-6 record.
2. One-trick pony
Now, this isn’t meant the way Kareem did when he slammed Dirk Nowitzki last year. But, Knight really had just one great game — against Alabama. The aforementioned statistics in “Like No. 2” were never exceeded — in passing yardage and more than three touchdowns. In 2014, Knight’s most impressive wins were over eventual 7-6 clubs West Virginia and Tennessee.
3. Not enough time
All of Kevin Sumlin’s starting A&M quarterbacks except Kyler Murray waited a good year or so until stepping onto the field — and we saw how that worked out for Murray. Not only is Knight foreign to the new Mazzone system, but the entire team is as well. Also, he lacks the chemistry and timing with receivers as a result of just entering the program. In an offense that begs for lightning quick tempo, that could be hard to find with someone taking a crash course — and the spring game displayed that.
4. Lack of consistency
In flashes, Knight can be fantastic. But his inconsistency cost him playing time in the two seasons he started before Mayfield’s arrival. In 2013, he was benched after two average outings against Louisiana Monroe and West Virginia. In 2014, a neck injury sidelined him for the last three games of the regular season. Especially with what occurred last year, Texas A&M is in desperate need of stability and needs Knight to start every game.
