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Why Trevor Knight Is a Perfect Solution to Texas A&M's QB Problem
December 21, 2015
The month of December has not been kind to Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin or the Aggie football program.
After all, starting quarterback and former 5-star prospect Kyle Allen decided to transfer from the program in early December and was followed by former 5-star prospect Kyler Murray despite the job essentially being handed to him after Allen's departure.
That leaves sophomore Jake Hubenak as basically the only option for Sumlin in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl against Louisville.
What about beyond, though?
According to 247Sports' Taylor Hamm, Texas A&M has emerged as the leading candidate to land the services of former Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight. The rising senior became the Sooners starter late in the 2013 season and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. He started the majority of the season in 2014 but was beaten out by Baker Mayfield prior to the 2015 season.
As Zach Barnett of FootballScoop noted when news of Murray's transfer broke, the eyes of Texas A&M immediately turned upon Knight.
As a graduate transfer, he can enroll at another FBS program and be eligible right away.
He's exactly what Texas A&M needs to solve its quarterback problem.
Is he a superstar? Hardly.
Despite looking like one against the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl, Knight has struggled at times over the last year-and-a-half. When he was forced into action in place of Mayfield against TCU this season, he completed just five of his 16 passes and allowed the injury-depleted Horned Frogs to get back into a game they had no business being in.
But Sumlin needs experience, and Knight is the guy who can provide it.
Nothing against Hubenak. He might be able to take advantage of this opportunity and run with it. But he completed just 12 of his 27 passes this year for only 92 yards. Even if he blows up in the bowl game, that's not enough of a sample size to label him as "the future."
Knight has big-game experience in major college football, has succeeded on one of the game's biggest stages and is familiar with what Sumlin would ask of him. As Hamm noted, he was once committed to Texas A&M prior to Sumlin's first season in the SEC.
He might not ever show the flashes of brilliance like he did when he threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns in that Sugar Bowl against Alabama. But if you're Sumlin, given the situation he's currently in with Hubenak being the only reasonable candidate to take the snaps in 2016, wouldn't you take that risk?
If nothing else, Knight gives Texas A&M options. In a critical season for Sumlin that will likely determine the direction of his professional life and the direction of the program, "options" are the college football equivalent of gold.
Yes, it seems like a gamble to take a risk on a guy like Knight, who has tossed 19 interceptions in three seasons and whose one shining moment came nearly two years ago.
But it's a risk he has to take.
Get Knight on campus, let the battle commence, and let the chips fall where they may.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.