The 2025 Auburn football season has been highly inconsistent. The Tigers have a lot of talent, but they struggled to put it together, and it led to Hugh Freeze getting fired. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin was named the interim head coach and has a real chance of getting the job. The Tigers have had a revolving door at quarterback this season, and that could determine whether Durkin keeps the job.
Auburn sat Ashton Daniels in their last game against Mercer to preserve his redshirt, and he will be available against Alabama. However, freshman Deuce Knight had a fantastic game against Mercer, leading to speculation about who would start against Alabama. When talking to the media, Durkin was coy about who the Tigers would start and what their plan was, according to On3's Justin Hokanson.
Hokanson posted on X during the press conference: “DJ Durkin was asked about playing Deuce Knight in addition to Ashton Daniels at QB against Alabama. Durkin smiled and said, ‘That's a great idea. I'll take that back upstairs.'”
Durkin did seem to indicate that Daniels would get the start, but if Auburn uses both quarterbacks in some capacity, it will be the difference maker.
Hokanson followed that post up by saying: “Durkin says Ashton Daniels handled sitting vs. Mercer really well and ‘will be fine' getting back in the groove and planning to start against Alabama.”
Daniels started the two games before Auburn’s win over Mercer. He excelled in the Tigers’ overtime loss to Vanderbilt, throwing for 353 yards, rushing for 89 yards, and scoring four total touchdowns. He also brings more experience than Knight does, which might be vital going into a game like the Iron Bowl against Alabama.
“He had the big plays, the explosives. Everyone saw that,” Durkin said of Knight. “But I think he did a great job of just going through his reads, making the right decisions, kind of operating the offense the right way.”
Deuce Knight was a massive five-star pickup for the Tigers, so it makes sense why Durkin might want to use Knight in some fashion, but what that package looks like remains to be seen.
