Trevor Knight puts on a good face and publicly vows what’s good for the team is good for him, but you know he’s got to be churning inside with the desire to get back on the field as a starter.
There are rumors surfacing that Knight does not want to serve his final season of eligibility as a backup quarterback and is looking around to see what his options might be to transfer to another school where he could be the starter.
The two major newspapers in Oklahoma have both reported that Knight could be thinking seriously about transferring, and Tulsa World sports writer Guerin Emig has suggested that the backup Sooner QB could be considering Oregon and even Kansas State.
According to Emig, Knight’s Twitter account shows recent follows of the Oregon football staff; several assistants at Kansas State, including former quarterback Collin Klein, who is now a graduate assistant on Bill Snyder’s coaching staff, and recruiting coordinator Taylor Braet, and the player personnel director at Georgia. There are also schools who have started following Knight on Twitter, Emig reports.
Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight (9) throws prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns during Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
When asked by the media just one week ago about his current situation as Mayfield’s backup, Knight replied:
"“I’m extremely happy here. This is my home and where I’m supposed to be. That’s what I’ve said from the day I first stepped foot on this campus. “I can’t say enough about the coaching staff and the players. It is truly a family atmosphere, and I wouldn’t do anything to stop what we have going right now.”"
For the second time in his Sooner career, the redshirt junior found himself in a multi-player battle last spring, through the summer months and into the 2015 preseason for the starting job at quarterback. The job was ultimately awarded to Texas Tech transfer and walk-on Baker Mayfield, and we all know the rest of the story.
Despite being elected a team captain and being one of the leaders of the team , Knight was relegated to a backup role as OU’s No. 2 quarterback. With Mayfield performing at such a high level and with the Oklahoma offense kicking into high gear as the season progressed, the only action Knight has seen this year was late in games that were already put away in the Sooner win column.
The one time this season that Knight did get a chance to remind everyone of what he could do at quarterback was in the second half of the TCU game, when Mayfield was forced to the sideline with concussion symptoms.
Mayfield was unable to go at the start of the second half, and Knight came in to relieve the Sooner starter. With the Sooners leading 23-7 at the break, it appeared that OU was on its way to its sixth consecutive win and second straight over an ranked opponent. Only, TCU had not conceded the loss despite trailing by a couple of touchdowns.
Knight was ineffective in the passing game, completing just 5 of 16 in the second half, including a costly interception on the Oklahoma side of the 50-yard line, and the Sooners couldn’t seem to get anything going on the ground in the second half.
Oct 18, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight (9) during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Were it not for Samaje Perine’s 92-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the Sooners would have lost the game, as well as their bid to make the College Football Playoff. As it turned out, TCU failed on a two-point conversion attempt with time running down on the game clock and fell one-point short, losing the game 30-29.
The bottom line was: Knight did not look very good. Part of his ineffectiveness was the result of conservative play calling on the part of OU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, who was aware that Knight had not taking many reps with the first team during the week before the TCU game. But Knight bears some of the blame as well. He just isn’t as well-suited in the Air Raid-style offense that the Sooners are running this season as Mayfield is. Not his fault, but just the way it is.
Knight won the starting job two seasons ago, beating out Blake Bell as the starter at quarterback to begin the 2013 season. Knight was injured in his second game, and relinquished the starter’s role to Bell. Bell played well in the starter’s role, including a big win at Notre Dame.
Bell would be the Sooner starter at quarterback until the 10th game of the season, when he suffered a concussion in a game against Iowa State. Knight had been called upon in a reserve role at quarterback in certain situations after he had recovered from his early season injury, but not back as the starter.
With two regular-season games and a bowl appearance remaining in the 2013 season, Knight was called on to again lead the Sooner attack. His first game back as the starter was at Kansas State, where he threw for 171 yards, completing 14 of 20 passes, including a touchdown. He ran for an additional 82 yards in leading Oklahoma to a 41-31 underdog victory.
He started the final game of the regular season in 2013 against Oklahoma State, but was reinjured and wasn’t able to finish the game. Nevertheless, Bell, this time in the backup role, came on and was the hero of the contest when he threw a short touchdown pass to Jalen Saunders late in the game to give the Sooners the lead, and they held on for a second straight upset win, this time over OSU, which would have won the Big 12 championship with a win.
But the best was yet to come for Knight. In the 2014 BCS Sugar Bowl against mighty Alabama – the kingpin of the SEC, arguably the best conference in college football – the San Antonio native had the game of his life. Knight pummeled the vaunted Crimson Tide defense through the air – an area of his game in which he has been heavily criticized – throwing 44 passes and completing 32 of them, including four for touchdowns. The Sooners went on to upset Alabama by a convincing two-touchdown margin, 45-31, and Knight was named Most Valuable Player in the game.
No one can really say what will ultimately happen as Knight ponders his future and his final season of college football. He is genuinely happy with the success enjoyed by Oklahoma this season and enjoys his teammates. He simply wants a chance to play more, and as long as Mayfield, who has already said he will return for his senior season, is able to stand upright and stay on the field, the chances of Knight getting much playing time are slim to none.
Let’s not forget that Knight’s brother, Connor (who plays tight end and is on special teams), is also on the Sooner roster and also has another year of eligibility coming.
My guess is that there probably are some big-name college programs that would be interested in Knight, even if only for one season. While I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to elect to leave Oklahoma for an opportunity to start somewhere else, I believe he will forgo the urge to bolt and stay right where he is to finish out his career as a Sooner.
His situation certainly won’t change until after Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff run. Stay tuned thereafter.