Why I’m Not Worried About Trevor Knight

Image via collegefootball.ap.org

“It was just one game.”

It’s a quote regarding Trevor Knight’s performance you can attribute to any number of people since Oklahoma’s stunning shocking surprising win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The stupidity of preseason watch lists aside — including those for the Heisman, of which Knight has found himself on several — this seems to be an incredibly popular fallback for Knight’s critics. And technically they are right, it was just one game. To be fair, one game is obviously much too small a sample size with which to evaluate a quarterback (or any player for that matter). Instead, said critics are quick to reference the Louisiana-Monroe and West Virginia games in which Knight did not play particularly well. Because, of course, while one game is to few a sample, two games is plenty and a much better representation of who Knight is as a quarterback. Also conveniently ignoring the fact they were the first two games of his OU career, so who the hell is he to be feeling the nerves a little bit and miss the majority of his passes?

If you can wade your way through all of my sarcasm, the point I’m attempting to make is this dismissal of Knight as a ‘one game wonder’ is simply one of convenience. If you want to point to his first two games (ever) as examples of why you are skeptical about him heading into 2014, you can’t then also dismiss how well he played in the Sugar Bowl. And let’s not forget, as so many seem to do, that performance on the road in Manhattan. Which, by the way, was his first career road start. An efficient performance through the air, showing the poise of an upperclassman rather than a redshirt freshman, and putting up another 80+ yards and one TD on the ground. Then there’s Bedlam. While Blake Bell will forever be remembered for pulling out the victory (and deservedly so), that game was tied going into the half. It’s not as though Bell had to lead some miraculous second half comeback. And, yeah, Knight hadn’t exactly lit it up before going down with an injury just before the half. But, again, this is a guy in his second ever road start and in a rivalry game.

But I should probably stop as this is likely past the point of no return for many interpreting it as me simply making excuses for Trevor Knight. Which couldn’t be farther from the case, but I imagine I’ve already lost a good number of you with those first two paragraphs so I’m just gonna power through.

My point in all of this is that as far as I’m concerned, Trevor Knight is going to be just fine.

And that’s not just the homer in my, though I suspect many will presume otherwise. No, I could give you any number of reasons as to why I feel this way. All of which will work with one another to help relieve the pressure being placed upon Knight to lead an Oklahoma team some (many?) consider to be a national championship contender.

Veteran Offensive Line

If you look at the potential two deep, this is a line that returns no less than 107 career starts among them. This is a line that, under the leadership of second year coach Bill Bedenbaugh, should be more than capable of keeping Knight upright and opening up lanes for OU’s talented and multifaceted backfield.

Backs On Backs On Backs

Whether it’s Keith Ford, Alex Ross, Daniel Brooks, David Smith, Joe Mixon, or Samaje Perine, OU RBs coach Cale Gundy will certainly not be lacking for options in 2014. As I’ve said countless times already while they may be lacking in experience, there is no shortage of talent. And running behind this line, with Knight also being a considerable threat on the ground as well, should only help to open things up for Gundy’s stable of backs.

The Return Of The Tight End

We’ve been assured it’s coming. And while some of us (myself included) are taking a wait and see approach, if it is in fact true then it could provide an invaluable added dimension to this offense. You don’t need me to remind you that big-bodied threat over the middle/up the seam is something this offense has been missing truly since the days of Jermaine Gresham (maybe James Hanna). If Bell can actually take to the position like we’ve heard that he has, and if McNamara can finally live up to the hype he came in with, then both could be match-up nightmares for Big 12 defenses. And, more importantly, provide that security blanket type of intermediary target for Knight that quarterbacks covet.

Maturation

As I painfully articulated above, it is just as stupid to dismiss Knight’s Sugar Bowl performance as it is to form an opinion of him as a quarterback based on the first two games of his collegiate career. What you saw that night in New Orleans was his ceiling. Is he going to play that well in every game this coming season? Of course not. But with the talent around him, both on offense and defense, he won’t have to for this Oklahoma team to be successful.

We’ve already established this is a guy who has only played in eight games, and two of those (Notre Dame and Baylor) really don’t even count. So he’s a guy heading into his second year, who has already flashed a potentially elite ceiling as a player in easily the biggest game of his young career, and is under the guidance of a proven master of developing quarterbacks in Josh Heupel.

So you wanna tell me again why Trevor Knight isn’t going to be better in 2014?

79 Comments

  • LLAdamJ7 says:

    The thing about this year’s team is that Knight will not have to carry the team in order to be successful. I believe that the defense will be good enough that 24 points will be enough for us to win almost every game this season. I also think that because Knight is established as the starter he will be more comfortable on the field.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      “The thing about this year’s team is that Knight will not have to carry the team in order to be successful.”

      Exactly.

      • Paul Warfield says:

        In today’s game the quarterback will always have to carry his team to victory. It’s a quarterback driven game, and in today’s college football where you need 30+ points to win I don’t buy any notion that “Knight won’t have to carry Oklahoma to victory”.

        I hope he plays every game as well or better than he did against Alabama, but to write that worry off when he struggled to complete better than 50% of his passes prior to that game and only managed to go 5-14 in the spring game…well you are kidding yourself to not wonder or worry.

        • Jordan Esco says:

          If the defense does what it s/b capable of doing, I don’t see any reason why Knight would have to carry this team. Though I think this is more an argument on semantics than anything else. But if you think the D, o-line & RBs can meet their potential and Knight will still have to “carry the team” for them to be successful, then yeah we’re probably never going to agree. Which is totally fine. I know you think you’re right as do I. Time will obviously tell.

    • DCinAZ says:

      Hmmm……I dunno about that. It’s hard to say he carried the team at any point last year. You could make an argument he held the team back in his first few games because he had talent all around him. He caught up with that talent later in the year is how I view it. But most definitely, he will not have to carry the team on his shoulders this year.

      • LLAdamJ7 says:

        I think the point I was trying to make is that he won’t be asked to carry the team. Last year’s team wasn’t as solid defensively as we expect this years squad to be. As a result there will be less pressure on the QB position.

    • Boom says:

      Fair point but I will disagree with Knight carrying the team. He has a very strong and deep OL for starters. Probably the best backs we seen in a long time even though they are inexperienced. We have loads of talent at WR, just hasn’t been seen yet. ie the catch by Woods in Sugar Bowl. Also, we have several TE’s that can make possession catches for 1st downs. Flexible FB/HBack with Flowers & Rip as your power FB. If Trevor has to carry that talent, then we are in trouble.

    • Boom says:

      Sorry LL, my bad, thought you said he had to carry the team. Again, my bad and I agree with you.

  • DCinAZ says:

    My prediction is that after the first two games, all this babble about “it’s just one game” will come to a shuddering stop, and that talk will be replaced with “Ooohs” and “Ahhhhs”.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      Possibly. But IMO in that scenario it will probably be “well it was just La Tech & Tulsa.”

  • John Garner says:

    Maturation is the key factor I think. He’s older, more stable in the offense, and he’s not bearing the load. He’s surrounded by playmakers and knows it. I agree. He’ll be fine. More than fine.

    • SoonerKevin says:

      During the season Heupel would say in his interview we are not that far off. I thought at the time, what game are you watching? But after reviewing the season he was right.
      As for Blake Bell throwing his last pass as a Sooner, I hope the coaches have some kind of trick play up their sleeves for him.

  • Brian says:

    Here’s a crazy thought…What if the Alabama game isn’t his ceiling? Why can’t he get/play even better?

    • Josh says:

      As coaches we always preach you either get better or you get worse, you never stay the same. I think you are 100% right. He finally showcased his talent in that game, and what he is capable of doing. As he plays more things will slow down for him and he will be able to diagnose defenses quicker and make quicker reads. No way was that his ceiling!

      • Kody K. says:

        I don’t think his ceiling is even an issue, unless your trying to project his game to the next level (NFL). Meaning he has already proved he has exceptional abilities for big time college ball. The remaining factor………when is Knight going to put it all together consistently. I think he just needs a little more time to get his rhythm going with his supporting cast. I guess when I hear people talk about his ceiling, I think forget about that right now, let’s get him playing with regularity first.

    • SoonerfanTU says:

      I hope this comes out the way I want it to, but for the offense we were running, and the plays that were called, I think TK’s performance in the Bama game was/is just about any QB’s ceiling. Without turning this post into a book, TK didn’t do much wrong in that game. Even his misses were “good” misses. I’m really not sure he could have played any better than he played in that game. If he plays that well in most games this season, OU will be one of the 2-3 best teams in the country. Easily.

      • Josh says:

        Totally agree that if TK plays to that level in each of OUs games this year they will be almost unstoppable. But I guarantee he didn’t grade out 100 in that game meaning he can play better. Without sitting there in the film room with the cowboy clicker its very difficult to see what reads he missed, what defenses he misdiagnosed, open receivers he didn’t see in time, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take that Trevor every single game this year and I think OU would be taking home #8 .

        • Kody K. says:

          Excellent post, and right you are! Love your profile pic, you just need to add Holieway next to Brian “Boz” Bosworth. Two of my all time favorites. I keep waiting for us to get another linebacker like the Boz.

          • Josh says:

            Appreciate that! Yeah I grew up in OKC during that era so I loved Jamelle and The Boz, and or course Keith Jackson! Pretty sure I was The Boz for Halloween from 84-86! My dad ran the Garfields in Norman so I got to meet a lot of the players back in those days and got Jamelle and Charles Thompson to sign a football for me.

          • Kody K. says:

            Oh man, could we talk about that era. I was actually living in Omaha during that time in Jr. high. Loved it when Keith tipped that pass to himself to put away NU that year. I was a wishbone QB as a freshman and loved Jamelle and Charles-Kendall’s dad. Also, loved Derrick Shepard (Sterling’s dad), boy wouldn’t he be prolific in todays offense. Many great full backs during that time as well Carr, Perry, Anderson. I could go on and on……..

    • Jed says:

      You beat me to it! Jordan, I don’t think the Sugar Bowl was Knight’s ceiling at all. Now, will he play that well every game? No. Will he be flat some games? Yes, most likely. But to say that the Sugar Bowl was the limit of how well he can play is, I suspect, selling him short.
      Barring injury to him and other critical performers, I can see him greatly exceeding his SB performance. If, for no other reason, than his supporting cast will know what to expect and will play back to him in need; much as Evans did with for Johnny Effing.

    • DCinAZ says:

      He will. Lots of people want to put limits on a kid who doesn’t feel that he has any because it’s hard to imagine him being any better than that, but I bet he is. I think he’s just getting started.

  • Josh says:

    I don’t think its making excuses to point out facts. Yes he struggled in his first two games as a collegiate QB… most do. He had issue with accuracy(especially hitting the WR screens) and with his reads, but that’s pretty common. I think the K State game and Iowa St also have to count as positives, so he is hardly a one hit wonder. The play he made early on in the K State game, backed up to his own EZ on 3rd and 8 or so, where he rolled out, got the defender in the air and got the first down, was a HUGE play that no other OU QB could have made since Jason blew out his ACLs. Trevor has the “it” factor, his coaches see it, his teammates know it, and I fully expect the country will see it this season.

    • Kody K. says:

      And now he just has to show it consistently, like he does in practice.

      • Josh says:

        Absolutely agree! Consistency is the key to success at the QB position. Nothing is more frustrating then just seeing flashes of amazing talent.

  • Eric Hoffpauir says:

    I haven’t gone back and watched those early games again lately, but I recall that in his first game, several of the miscues weren’t all his fault. Wide receivers were dropping catchable balls and supposedly ran poor routes a few times.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      good points

    • soonermusic says:

      exactly the point I was gonna make before I saw you already did it. He wasn’t nearly as bad during those first games as many thought. And there was a whole lot of “not off by much” going on as far as I was concerned. Not to diminish the problems, but when you add in the complete confidence that the coaches had in him, and the endless reports of his dazzling play in practices, it’s hard not to be optimistic about his future.

  • Kevin Fielder says:

    Just an observation. TK was super hyped in those first two games, but showed a maturity because normally when you are super pumped behind center, your throws are high. He was throwing them in the ground which leads me to believe he was super hyped, but overcompensating so as not to make a mistake. Then, to my surprise when he came out on the road against K-State, he was a different player with a different demeanor. He was relaxed and business-like. Somebody had sat down with him and explained the mental preparation. He wasn’t super pumped up but almost subdued. He led the team and they responded. Kudos for JH for working on the mental aspect. I took that that as a maturity passed along from the ultimate “cool under pressure” QB, Josh Huepel. I know he gets credit (good and bad) for the QB play, but I saw him coaching on the mental aspect level. Just my $0.02.

    • LLAdamJ7 says:

      I don’t think I’ve seen the composure that Knight brought at the end of the season since Bradford was around. Landry and Bell always seemed to be a bit nervous.

  • leatherneck1061 says:

    Couldn’t agree more Jordan. Trevor’s critics are glittering jewels of buffoonery. This year he will be getting all the starting reps in practice and gain more experience as the starter with each game instead of sharing reps with 2 other guys. No one is predicting he is going to come blazing out of the gate like Joe Montana this year, but to dismiss him as a one-game wonder is just beyond stupid.
    Meanwhile, the Bama qb who hasn’t yet taken a snap in CFB and transferred out of FSU after being unable to land the starting job is being hailed as the guy that’s gonna lead Bama to the promised land based on…..well…..nothing. Except that he plays for the “unstoppable” Bama, of course.

  • Eric Hoffpauir says:

    Meanwhile SI.com thinks Mayfield might win the starting job over Knight.

    • leatherneck1061 says:

      I’m just glad to hear there’s a good possibility we will have an excellent backup qb ready to go and Bell can focus solely on TE.

    • Super K says:

      Can tell you that there are some WRs on the team that believe Mayfield throws a better ball. But Knights leadership ability is off the charts.

  • Cary Newman says:

    I hope they game plan with TK exactly the way the staff did in the Sugar Bowl and what Bob pretty much said today. His running plays will be off-schedule, get what you can, then get down.

  • jonnyBgood says:

    I don’t know Trevor Knight so this is just my assumption…

    I think he will be more than fine. Kid strikes me as humble, eager and open to coaching. Will he have a ‘Bama like game every game? No. Does he need to for this team to win? No. There is a ridiculous amount of talent around him and if he sticks to the script, makes the easy throws look just that and pops the occasional big play this team is going to win a bunch of games. We all know he is going to struggle at points just as every player (college or pro) does. The reason I think he will handle adversity well is because he has already shown this ability in his brief career. Trevor seems like one heckuva kid and a wonderful representative of The University of Oklahoma. I look forward to him leading us to another National title this year and can’t wait for kickoff! Boomer!!!

  • thedeez says:

    The Sugar Bowl wasn’t just a one game flash, it was four full quarters of consistent great play.

  • j l says:

    People also neglect the fact that we transitioned to the read option offense last year, so knight wasnt even running the offense he learned during his redshirt year.
    1st time starter + freshman + new offensive scheme = early season struggles.

    Its like people cant admit to the fact that he improved as the season went on, like its outside the realm of possibility.

    its infuriating, but pretty much par for the course as a sooner fan.

  • leatherneck1061 says:

    Since we’re on the subject, I think this is a great article on Knight. I don’t know if this has already been linked to on here, but it is worth the read. This guy clearly thinks Knight is going to be exceptional. I especially like this part where he is reviewing Knight’s 4th quarter pass to Shepard for a TD in the Sugar Bowl:

    “The list of players in college football who could make that play is fairly short, and it points to a ceiling for Knight unlike what they’ve had in Norman before. A player who can master that offense while adding in some running ability or even Johnny Football impersonations on passing downs is one that could easily join forces with OU’s talent level to form an elite team.”

    http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/5/20/5730572/oklahoma-sooners-football-2014-trevor-knight-quarterback

    • thedeez says:

      Ian Boyd is a very good writer, I started reading him awhile back when he was still writing under the handle Nickel Rover.

  • Doobie74OU says:

    WOW! TFB ARE ON FIRE TODAY! INFO IS FLOWING FELLAS “COME ON IN THE WATER IS FINE!”

  • Pokerman says:

    It was kind of a frustrating season for me last year. I was so pumped about having a multi-dimensional QB and then we ended up with Blake Bell for 2/3 of the season at QB. I always felt during that period that the best signal caller was on the sideline … mostly without good reason. I never expected Knight to be all-world right out of the gate. I expected it would take a good part of the season before he became comfortable. If Bell hadn’t gotten injured when he did I don’t think we would have ever seen the Trevor Knight we saw in the Sugar Bowl.
    I re-watch all of our games many times during the offseason but I couldn’t bring myself to watch the games where Bell started. It was too painful watching his plodding style. Not to criticize Bell. He did his best, but he is much better off as a tight end.

    • Josh says:

      I feel your pain lol! I love Blake Bell, love how he looked against Tulsa and will always remember the way he played to beat ND, and I think it is poetic that the last pass he ever threw was a TD to beat the pokes. But man the Baylor game and the tu game were just awful. More than a few times the words “Throw the ______ Ball” were heard echoing through my media room. With TK getting dinged up we will never know how quick the coaches would have been to give him the hook.

    • rphdenton says:

      re bell………was his ‘plodding style’ painful to watch at nd, or the comeback over the pukes culminating with an artists pass to saunders in the corner……don’t forget

      • Pokerman says:

        Actually, yes. I’m willing to give Bell props for what he has done. But it could have been so much better.

    • Cary Newman says:

      My thoughts exactly.

  • Josh says:

    I can’t remember when this site got started. I don’t remember it being here during the season because I know I could have used it during that dark week in October when the world stopped making sense.

    • Super K says:

      Started in October haha. Which game had you down? Was it after Baylor?

      • Josh says:

        No the Baylor game had me frustrated but at least I knew that was going to be a tough game. Though I do have nightmares of Striker jumping on that 3rd and 4 every now and then and I wanted to write my congressman a letter about pick routes and offensive PI. But the TX game had me completely bewildered… Still does, never saw that coming. Hopefully won’t have to use TFB for therapy this season but its good to know y’all are here.

  • Roger Nixon says:

    After Knight’s first two games, I was praying for the return of Blake Bell. After his return from injury his progress was visible. As Jordan said, it wasn’t spectacular but he was getting better. The Sugar Bowl was no fluke. I’ve watched it several times and you can see Trevor knows what he wants to do and does it with confidence.
    I’m not worried at all about Trevor’s performance, I am a little concerned about him staying healthy.

  • I like Boomer Sooner says:

    >trevor-knight-haters

    Fantastic URL Esco.

    (and article, that was p. good too)

  • connie usa says:

    I crave the updates. Makes my day!!!

  • Boom says:

    I think what is lost in the Sugar Bowl is the play by our OC. Heupel may have pulled off his best called game of his career. Kudos to JH & Norvell for their game planning. Trevor was a product of 2 weeks of game planning and he executed it really well which in turn made them look better too.
    Now, I along with every other sooner loves Bell and what he means to the team. However, just think how much different the offensive strategy would’ve been in the Baylor/UT game if Trevor was the starter. It took the team to lose, not Bell but the game plan would’ve been much different IMO.
    Trevor will be more relaxed and it’s his team now. That can only help him moving forward. Also, he won’t be running for his life with the talent around him. Best of luck to him.
    Heupel, we are expecting as big of things from you as we are Trevor. LOL.

  • Jackson1006 says:

    I’ve watched the sugar bowl like 10 times from my DVR. One thing that stands out to me as good fortune/ luck is that we were never in goal line situations to score. That is, all our scores came with some yards out (no 3rd and goal from the 2 yard line etc). Those goal to go, short field situations play to the strength of the SEC so on that account we were fortunate (compare to 2008 vs Florida sans Demarco Murray, or WV or Oregon vs LSU in years past).
    I’m not sold on Trevor’s passing but his legs force defenses to play us differently so he doesn’t have to be Bradford or White. It is hard to compare passing tape from pocket passers to running threat QBs because the defenses change accordingly. As a result, it is difficult to get a feel for what fair expectations might be for a kind of QB we’ve never had before.

  • ToatsMcGoats says:

    Trevor Knight has a couple of things that Landry Jones didn’t: 1) A running game 2) The ability to move inside, and outside the pocket. I did’t like Knight at first (I remember calling him “Knoght”), but he has shown more heart and ability than I ever thought. I’m more than happy to have him under center for us.

  • Shelby is a Patriot says:

    I’m not worried about Trevor Knight, either. I think he just lacked confidence early on, he said as much after the Sugar Bowl.

  • Sooner Ray says:

    I have all the faith in the world where Knight is concerned. I don’t think we have seen his best by far. He has a surrounding cast that will help him be a dangerous weapon. My concern about the offense is who steps in “if” he were to go down and how game ready are they?

    • EasTex says:

      You never know how a young man will perform in his first action. Having watched Cody for the four years he started at Colleyville, I believe he has the type of mind set that he will be ready when given the chance.

  • Buster Rhymes 4 says:

    If you go back and watch those first two games, the receivers drops alot of passes. If caught, the stats and the confidence probably would’ve been there…

  • EasTex says:

    Not concerned with TK’s ability to perform. You could see in the Iowa St. game when he came in for an injured Bell that he saw the game better, that everything had slowed down.
    Not only did TK show his confidence level had increased dramatically, the game plan and play calling also showed the coaches had confidence in him. With that comfort level, I hope for Coach Heupel to show the creativity in his play calling that he did in the Sugar. The entire offense bought in on the game plan. Belief and trust isn’t a one way street.

  • Boomer4life says:

    Need……football now……..!!!!!

  • Boomer4life says:

    Football where are you…..?

  • Boomer4life says:

    The season can’t get here fast enough!

  • roygbell says:

    I don’t think anyone doubts Trevor’s potential and his play in the Sugar Bowl sure does show that. I think many OU fans, like me, are of the “wait and see” philosophy when it comes to projecting greatness in players. The Sugar Bowl was a great exhibition of Trevor’s skills. We also need to factor in the fact that Trevor got a ton of work in from the end of the season until the Sugar Bowl. I think the OU offensive coaches spent lots of time dissecting the Bama offense and they designed a great game plan. That has to factor into the evaluation of Trevor and his play.

    I trust OU’s coaches. They had seen enough of Trevor during the 2013 Fall practices to be confident of what the kid could do. His performance in the early games till he got hurt sure didn’t show what the coaches had seen in practices etc. History tells us that players grow a lot between their first year and second. I fully expect Trevor to have made great strides through the time since the Sugar Bowl.

    I think Trevor has the potential to end his OU career as one of the best of the Stoops QBs. That is saying a lot about him. Still, I prefer to take a wait and see approach as opposed to anointing him and/or over hyping him. I won’t be surprised if he performs up to our expectations. Still he has to do it on the field before we really know what he can do. And one or two games isn’t a sufficient sample, at least for me.

  • bjwalker82 says:

    I’m not too high or too low on Trevor. I think consistency is important in being able to rely on a QB. For better or worse, last year, he wasn’t consistent. There are a host of reasons why as Jordan mentions above. I give Trevor the benefit of those w/o question. But if you ask me to predict how Trevor will do this year, how can I tell you anything with any certainty? He could be Heisman-like, dropping dimes around the field. Then again he could be like Landry, all the talent in the world but inconsistent coupled with questionable decision making.

    The point is, I simply don’t know. I think it would be foolish to predict based on what we’ve seen that he’ll be a boom or a bust. That’s not a knock on Trevor at all nor is it an endorsement. I certainly have faith in him, but we will have to wait until the season to see what we’ve got. But knowing the type of person he is, I’ll lean towards the belief that we have someone special.

  • hushnpa says:

    so let me see if I got this right .. BOOMER !

    or :

    The Defense is going to destroy most of the teams we face anyway ? Check ^
    At least one incredible , nighmare , running back can be expected to step up ? Check ^
    Wtih multiple , can’t miss , man-mountain TE targets / Plus SS Check ^
    And a OL that would make the Rocky Mountains applaud ! Check ^

    You don’t see what all the fuss over ?
    Me either šŸ™‚