Steve Sarkisian discusses Maalik Murphy's struggles vs. Kansas State: 'We're going to have to have balance'

Texas survived a comeback and major test from Kansas State on Saturday, winning 33-30 in overtime in Austin. But the Longhorns were put in a position to lose the game largely because of their own mistakes — including those of quarterback Maalik Murphy.

Starting in lieu of an injured Quinn Ewers, Murphy struggled, especially in the second half. After the Longhorns survived, head coach Steve Sarkisian was blunt about the performance.

“We’re not going to be able to win the rest of the games on our schedule if we don’t throw a pass. We’re going to have to have balance. In the end, we tried to create some opportunities for some throws that he can get his confidence back, and I thought we were able to do that,” Sarkisian said postgame, according to Inside Texas.

Murphy finished 19-of-37 for 248 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. His second came amid a Kansas State scoring flurry early in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats turned an otherwise sleepy game into a competitive affair.

And evidently, it wasn’t a satisfactory effort in the eyes of Sarkisian — dissatisfaction that likely sits a bit easier after a win.

The struggles didn’t stop Sarkisian from hyping up his team on the field after the win

The overtime victory was a rollercoaster and a near blown lead for the Longhorns. However, defense won the game in the end despite some late mistakes from Murphy, who started his second straight game.

Sarkisian spoke with FOX sideline reporter Jenny Taft after the thrilling victory.

“Well, we found a way to make it hard on ourselves today,” Sarkisian said. “Turning the ball over the way that we did, especially in our end, but we just continue to fight and I think that’s what makes this team special. We talked about it yesterday. We find the way to win. I think that’s what championship teams do and I think this is a championship caliber team. We got to keep trying to get better.”

Taft asked Sarkisian about Murphy still being the guy moving forward should Ewers miss more time. The head coach chalked it up to the team rallying overall despite injuries.

“Well, anytime you’re playing with the backup quarterback, we lost our starting right tackle, we got a little nicked up, some guys got banged up today and inevitably we got to take care of the ball better,” Sarkisian said. “But our bounce back was tremendous.”