The Battalion: September 1, 2016

FOOTBALL

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The Battalion | 9.1.16

THE ROAD TO AGGIELAND TREVOR KNIGHT’S JOURNEY FROM REAGAN TO OKLAHOMA TO TEXAS A&M

By Angel Franco @angelmadison_

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Trevor Knight will start in Saturday’s season opener against UCLA. FILE

hen Trevor Knight first began his search for the college program of his dreams, A&M was on the list. But Knight’s journey to College Station is marked by a long road that started in San Antonio and led him on a slight detour to Oklahoma, before coming full circle and ending up in Aggieland.

Knight, who played at Reagan High School in San Antonio, was sought by several Division I schools including TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Clemson. One of the schools that strongly pursued him is now the team he is set to represent — five years later.

Knight said as the days grow closer to kickoff, the anticipation of running onto Kyle Field for the first time continues to grow.

“I’m personally really excited,” Knight said. “It’s my last promised year of football in my entire life. So there’s a lot of excitement around it. Personally, I’m just ready to get back out on the field and have a lot of fun playing football and playing in front of the 12th Man — it’s going to be special.”

David Wetzel, who was Knight’s high school football coach, had a first-hand view of Knight’s recruitment process.

Wetzel said the recruitment whirlwind played a pivotal role in his final decision. “[Recruitment] was a crazy deal,” Wetzel said. “[Knight] almost committed to TCU, but there were some things that went crazy with that. Then he com-

mitted to Coach [Mike] Sherman at Texas A&M. A little bit later he ended up committing to Oklahoma and ended up going there.”

Despite the crazy recruitment process, Knight passed for over 2,000 yards with 27 touchdowns while rushing for 943 yards with 15 touchdowns. Wetzel said the key to Knight’s success his

“The big part is how he entered the situation — as a guy who was outside and came in and became a teammate first.

That’s a special skill set”

Kevin Sumlin, head football coach

senior season was the fact that his recruitment process occurred before the start of his final high school season.

After arriving on Oklahoma’s campus as a freshman, Knight decided to redshirt. The following

season, Knight’s decision seemed to pay off — he earned the starting position in Norman, Oklahoma. One of Knight’s greatest performances in a Sooner uniform came on Jan. 2, 2014, when the No. 11 Sooners faced No. 3 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

The Sooners were underdogs heading into the matchup with the Crimson Tide. Knight was on pace to finish a magical first season under center for the Sooners. Meanwhile, the Tide boasted a veteran quarterback in A.J. McCarron, who up to that point had a seemingly picture-perfect career in Tuscaloosa. However, the result of the bowl game indicated otherwise. Knight’s final box score included a Sugar Bowl record 32 passes and 348 yards with four touchdowns in a 41-31 victory, effectively ending Alabama’s and McCarron’s season on a sour note.

The Sooners’ 2014 campaign resulted in an 8-5 record, and Knight struggled as the Sooners’ signal-caller. Following the transfer of quarterback Baker Mayfield from Texas Tech, Knight found himself in a three-way quarterback battle with Mayfield and Cody Thomas. Toward the end of the Sooners’ 2015 fall camp, Mayfield was named the starter for the season.

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said despite the decision to start Mayfield, Knight responded positively and continued to work hard and motivate the players around him throughout the remainder of the 2015 season. “[Knight] is absolutely everything you want in a student-athlete, as a leader, football player,” Stoops said. “He’s a great teammate, very unselfish, supportive

of all his teammates. Positive leader on and off the field and in the weight room — he’s a highenergy guy about all the right things.”

Although Knight’s time in Norman may not have ended in the result he wanted, Knight said he’s still thankful to have represented Oklahoma as a student athlete.

“So many different opportunities and experiences I had molded me into the person I am today and allowed me to have the opportunity to come to Texas A&M and play my senior year.”

Trevor Knight, quarterback

“My opportunities and my experience at OU was incredible,” Knight said. “I got the chance to redshirt my first year and learn how to lead in that capacity, then go into my redshirt freshman year and start, then going into my red-

shirt sophomore year with high expectations and played well at times and had hiccups at times, injuries and things like that. Then losing my job and kind of learning how to lead from the backup role, which is invaluable for me as well.”

The Aggies found themselves in a tough quarterback situation at the end of the 2015-16 season with the transfers of quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen.

After a few weeks, Knight announced his decision to transfer to A&M. Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said in addition to Knight’s exceptional skills on the field, his leadership skills and his ability to adapt to a new setting and atmosphere has positively affected the A&M football program.

“The big part is how he entered the situation — as a guy who was outside and came in and became a teammate first,” Sumlin said. “That’s a special skill set. If there’s one thing that you never really know in the recruiting process is how a guy is going to gel with everybody else. That I think really helped his growth, this team’s growth and helped the offense grow.”

Knight said he’s glad he’s come full circle back to the school he almost committed to initially.

“As a guy who is a competitor, I always wanted to be on the field and you wish everything would work out perfectly but life’s not like that sometimes,” Knight said.

“So many different opportunities and experiences I had molded me into the person I am today and allowed me to have the opportunity to come to Texas A&M and play my senior year, which I’m extremely excited about.”

Marvin Pfeiffer — SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS

Ty Russell — OU ATHLETICS

FILE

Senior quarterback Trevor Knight last started against Clemson in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl.