Knight to play in first game in two years
It might be two years since quarterback Trevor Knight played in a game, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t be ready to lead Texas A&M against UCLA at 2:30 p.m. Sept 3 on CBS.
First, when Knight has had time to prepare, he’s excelled. Remember when he led Oklahoma o a 45-31 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in 2014? Knight completed 32 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns.
And second, Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin, who is 7-1 in season openers dating back to his days at the University of Houston, has a knack for getting quarterbacks to perform at their best in the season’s first game. In 2014, former signal-caller Kenny Hill set the single-game passing record with 511 yards on 44 of 60 attempts during the 52-28 win at South Carolina.
Even alternating quarterbacks didn’t slow the Aggies during the 38-17 win over Arizona State last year. Former quarterbacks Kyle Allen completed 15 of 26 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns and Kyler Murray completed four of nine passes for 49 yards and six rushes for 69 yards.
“Spent lot of time in offseason talking about what we’re doing well and what we’re not doing well,” Sumlin said. “Try to stay ahead of curve every year with what we’re doing well and address things on back end. Our guys are used to playing ranked opponents in first game.”
This is the first meeting between the two teams since a 29-23 Bruins win at the Cotton Bowl in 1998. The series is 2-2.
