Maalik Murphy wasn't perfect, but he was everything Texas needed at quarterback in its win over BYU
All 101,670 pairs of eyes were on Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy as he prepared to take the field for his first-career start in the place of the injured Quinn Ewers. In that moment before the first first-quarter snaps of his career, Murphy appeared unfazed. The 6-foot-5, 238-pounder danced to the music playing in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, ready to lead his team to a win.
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Steve Sarkisian called a pass on eight of the first 10 plays for Murphy, with another play a thrown lateral to Savion Red. There was faith in the California-bred signal-caller from Sarkisian, something that helped Murphy succeed and be contributing factor in Texas’ 35-6 win over BYU.
“He believed in me,” Murphy said postgame. “If he’s able to script that many openers as passes for me in my first start, that tells me something. He’s not letting off the gas. He believes in me. That was huge.”
There was a limited amount of success in those first 10 plays, though. Texas picked up just one first down on its opening possession. After Murphy and the offense took the field a second time with a 7-0 lead following a 74-yard punt return touchdown from Xavier Worthy, he threw the first interception of his career while eluding defenders and throwing off his back foot.
Then on the first play of the second quarter for the Longhorns, Murphy was sacked and lost possession of the football, surrendering it to the Cougars. But the quarterback who had enough confidence to dance prior to his first start had enough confidence to bounce back and be a part of why the Longhorns improved to 7-1.
“It was a young mistake on my part, putting the ball in harm’s way,” Murphy said. “But I was able to bounce back and the team bounced back with me. They didn’t get down on me. Everybody came up to me and said I’m alright, let’s keep going and keep our foot on the gas. That’s what we did.”
Murphy began his outing 7-for-11 for 52 yards with an interception and a fumble. After that turnover, he finished 9-for-14 for 118 yards and his the first two touchdowns of his career.
“For Maalik to come out and play the way that he did, it’s unfortunate he had a couple of those turnovers which were quite frankly a little bit because we were out of rhythm,” Sarkisian said. “I think we can clean some of that rhythm up as he gets a little bit more comfortable as we move forward.”
Sarkisian absolved Murphy of some of the blame on his turnovers. On the interception, Sarkisian said “we had a bit of a miscommunication and we didn’t get a route from the receiver on the front side” but still mentioned Murphy should have protected the ball. On the second, he pointed out there was a missed block by two different offensive players that had Murphy feeling pressure quickly.
But after that, Murphy started to show off some of the arm ability that had Sarkisian pursuing him out of Junipero Serra in the Los Angeles area. Up 14-3, he led a scoring drive that saw him complete two passes to Worthy before he lofted a pass in the end zone intended for Adonai Mitchell. The Georgia transfer brought it in to make it 21-3, and as Murphy did prior to his start, he danced and celebrated with his teammates.
“We worked it all week,” Murphy said. “I was excited he was able to get the opportunity to go make a play on the ball. I was letting my playmaker make a play.”
Murphy got that football, and said he’ll probably give it to his parents. Murphy and Mitchell would make a scoring connection again with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, completing a 13-yard slant route for the closing score. That throw would end Murphy’s day throwing the ball and put the Cougars away.
It wasn’t a Murphy led effort, to be sure. Texas rushed 35 times for 184 yards and two scores, one by Jonathon Brooks and the other by Jaydon Blue. Brooks had 98 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving, pacing the Longhorn efforts. Plus, the Texas defense limited BYU to under 300 total yards and just 4.5 yards per play.
Still, Sarkisian praised Murphy for his efforts on Saturday and for everything he’s done as a Longhorn since enrolling early in 2022. Murphy saw Quinn Ewers transfer into Texas upon his enrollment, and also learned of Arch Manning’s commitment to the Longhorns following his first semester.
Murphy didn’t leave for the portal after those two events.
“He stayed because he wanted to be part of this team, and he wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to compete,” Sarkisian said. “That’s what makes him special. I think that’s why our team really loves him so much. He loves his teammates. He’s a great teammate.”
Senior defensive back Jahdae Barron echoed those thoughts.
“(It shows) the loyalty he has,” Barron said. “He’s committed to us. That shows a lot from a young kid, and that shows fight that he has. He’s not just going to give up just because something’s not in his favor or in his way. We really appreciate that, and he stepped up when we needed him to.”
Murphy wasn’t perfect, something he admitted to after the the game, but he was good enough to be a part of why Texas won without its backup quarterback. His efforts kept the Longhorns in the College Football Playoff race, and after Oklahoma’s loss, placed Texas at the top of the Big 12 standings.
There’s room for growth from Murphy, but he was what Texas needed versus BYU. And he felt the love from his teammates because of that.
“I was glad that they accepted me in the team’s role to be able to help them,” Murphy said. “Honestly they helped me. I was able to help at the end of the day. I just helped the team.”
