What is Texas A&M's Trevor Knight doing best? 'Winning,' Kevin Sumlin says
Journalists are taught to ask open-ended questions. Unimaginative yes-or-no queries tend to get worthless yes-or-no answers.
So Wednesday on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference, I asked Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin about his new quarterback, Trevor Knight, who has led the Aggies to a 3-0 start and from unranked to No. 10 in the AP Poll.
It was of the open-ended variety, of course.
Coach, if you strictly look at the statistics, Trevor Knight has been average at best. But when you actually watch the games, he appears to be in complete control and playing extremely well. What is he doing for you that doesn’t necessarily show up in the box score?
Despite the open-ended inquiry, Sumlin delivered a relatively closed response.
“Winning,” he said.
Following an awkward silence that certainly caught me off guard, the moderator eventually got Sumlin to elaborate a bit:
“He has moved the football. He hasn’t been perfect. I think he’s gotten better every week, and that’s what we’ve asked him to do. He’s come into a situation with a lot of expectations, but he’s handled things pretty well. He’s an older guy, and he’s got some talent around him. So it’s been a learning experience for our coaching staff with him, and we’re getting to learn more about him and he’s learned more about us.
“I think it’s been a work in process every week, and I think he’s improved every week. Basically, that’s all we can ask him to do. I think he’s done a good job with that.”
Among the 12 QBs in the SEC who qualify, Knight is only ninth in passer efficiency rating (122) through three games.
Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
It’s certainly not for a lack of opportunities in the offense. Knight’s 39.7 attempts per game are second to Drew Lock of Missouri, plus his 276.7 yards per game are third to Lock and Chad Kelly of Ole Miss.
However, measurables like completion percentage and touchdown percentage weigh heavily in the efficiency configuration. Knight is completing fewer throws than he should be at this point, only hitting on 52.9 percent of his attempts. His 5 touchdown passes are also well behind Kelly’s 10 and Lock’s 9.
That being said, Lock and Kelly have already lost two games each. Knight is undefeated and all smiles in College Station.
Unlike Lock and Kelly, Knight has been aided by his rushing attack. A&M is second in the conference with 237 yards per game on the ground. The Tigers (148.3) and Rebels (114) rank 12th and 13th, respectively.
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Needless to say, Sumlin is known for his pass-happy scheme that spreads defenses out with shotgun formations and four-receiver sets — tight ends and fullbacks are rarely, if ever, part of the personnel. But some early success for running backs Trayveon Williams and Keith Ford has brought a sense of balance.
Knight has been an effective runner too, supplementing the backs’ production with 151 yards and 3 TDs of his own.
When he has taken to the sky, while Knight has been errant here and there, he’s spreading the ball around to arguably the nation’s best receiving corps. That was one of the selling points for Texas A&M originally.
Christian Kirk, Josh Reynolds, Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil — he’s only played two games, having been suspending for Week 1 — have all caught between 6 and 18 passes, and Seals-Jones is the only one that hasn’t found the end zone yet. Their various sizes and skill sets are a handful for any secondary.
Overshadowed by UCLA’s Josh Rosen in the season opener, it was Knight who prevailed in overtime with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Hosting an outclassed Prairie View squad in Week 2, Knight put together the kind of stat line we’ve come to expect from an Aggies signal caller: 21-of-37 for 344 yards with 3 TDs, although he was picked off once.
This past Saturday, A&M opened league play with a 29-16 victory at Auburn that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate — the Tigers had a garbage-time score late. Knight was only 20-of-40 passing, but he didn’t turn the ball over and made the throws that Sean White and John Franklin III simply couldn’t.
Knight and Co. will face off with No. 17 Arkansas in Arlington on Saturday, a matchup of early pleasant surprises in the West.
Alabama has proven to be the divisional powerhouse once again, as the defending national champions steamrolled USC on a neutral site in the opener and then topped Ole Miss in comeback fashion on the road in Week 3.
Even though the Rebels had beaten the Crimson Tide twice in a row, neither time were they able to finish the West gauntlet and earn a trip to the conference title game — they won’t even get the chance now. While LSU was supposed to be the Tide’s main competition in 2016, the Tigers have failed to impress thus far.
Perhaps Texas A&M, which gets a bye before battling ‘Bama at home in Week 8, is a genuine threat to make it to Atlanta.
The Aggies threw the ball all over the yard in 2012-13 with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, and it was a lot of fun to watch. But aside from that crazy upset in Tuscaloosa, they didn’t win anything of consequence.
Kenny Hill put up numbers in 2014. So did Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray — all three have since transferred — last season. Nevertheless, A&M has gone from 11-2 to 9-4 to 8-5 to 8-5 again since joining the best conference in America. Finally, Sumlin has a leader focused on something besides personal glory.
Whether or not that makes a difference in the long run remains to be seen. Knight is paying immediate dividends, though.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
