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Defending Trevor Knight involves more than just pass defense now

The last time Trevor Knight suited up on the other side of the line from Alabama, the quarterback had the game of his life. At that time he was wearing a different shade of crimson, but when he squares off against the Crimson Tide on Saturday he’ll be a in maroon and white.

Knight then was a redshirt freshman quarterback for Oklahoma, who lit up Alabama for 348 yards and four touchdowns on 32 of 44 passing against one interception.

That night in New Orleans he was not a running threat.

That’s not the case this season as he heads to Bryant-Denny Stadium with a 7.72-yards-per-carry average, which ranks fourth in the conference, and nine rushing touchdowns. He also ranks fourth in the SEC in passing yards per game with 250 yards.

As a group, the Aggies lead the SEC in rushing and despite Alabama being the top rushing defense in the country, allowing just 2 yards per carry, they feel they can run the ball on the Crimson Tide.

“Yep,” Texas A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said. “We’re not Tennessee.”

Mazzone was of course referring to Alabama’s defense allowing just 1 yard per carry to the Volunteers. If the Aggies are able to run, it might start with Knight.

“He's an outstanding athlete and very capable of running the ball,” UA head coach Nick Saban said. “They have a lot of quarterback runs where he has made a lot of explosive plays, whether it's the quarterback draws or zone-read plays, where he keeps the ball and has a blocker in front of him. He's improved.”

On the season he has 502 yards on 65 carries. For comparison, Jalen Hurts has 74 carries for UA and Damien Harris has 69.

Knight isn’t a one-trick pony either. He can throw the ball downfield to talented wide receivers, including Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds. He’s thrown for 1,500 yards and is completing 53.5 percent of his passes.

“He’s a great passer and he can just take off running to get the first down or big plays at any moment,” senior defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson said. “So we have to be aware of him at all times.”

Knight isn’t known as precise or consistently accurate passer but Alabama knows firsthand that he can be. They learned that the hard way a few seasons ago.

“He passed the ball well when we played against him before, but that was supposed to be the issue and he has done that extremely well this year for them, to create kind of balance in their offense that makes it very difficult to defend,” Saban said. “He's an outstanding player from a production standpoint; he's as productive as anybody we've played against all year.”

Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.

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