Despite Mistakes, QB Maalik Murphy Impresses In First Texas Longhorns Start
AUSTIN, TX -- In a perfect world, Texas Longhorns QB Maalik Murphy would not have had to start on Saturday vs. the BYU Cougars. Quinn Ewers would have been healthy, and Texas would have coasted to a big win.
However, that's not how things happened, and Murphy was thrust into the spotlight.
Fortunately for the Longhorns, he was ready for the challenge, leading Texas to an easy 35-6 win, and moving them into a tie atop the Big 12 standings.
"For Maalik making his first career start, I was really proud of him," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Was Murphy perfect? No. Far from it in fact.
There were two snaps in which Murphy made what can only be described as horrendous mistakes. The first came on an interception in the first quarter on the second offensive possession for Texas.
Luckily, the defense was up for the challenge, intercepting BYU, and getting the ball right back.
The second mistake came two drives later when Murphy took a bad sack and was stripped of the ball, giving BYU the ball at their own 38. But despite those missteps, Sarkisian was undeterred.
"I think the turnovers were due to us being a little out of rhythm with Maalik Murphy... sometimes you have to eat the ball," Sarkisian said. "We will clean it up."
Again, however, the Longhorns defense minimized the damage, holding the Cougars to a field goal.
Then on the very next drive, Murphy got his moment, leading Texas on a 10-play 75-yard drive, hitting Adonai Mitchell for his first career touchdown pass, and giving his team a 21-6 lead heading into the locker room for the half.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Maalik Murphy throws a touchdown pass to wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the second quarter against the BYU Cougars at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 28, 2023
Jay Janner/American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK
Murphy got his second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, hitting Mitchell yet again for a score, this time from 13 yards out, and putting Texas up 28-6.
For the game, Murphy ended his day with a respectable 16 of 25 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.
More important than that stat line, or the mistakes, however, was that the moment was never too big for the freshman. From the first snap until the last snap, turnover, or touchdown pass, Murphy's demeanor never changed.
“I would say I was ready 100 percent,” Murphy said after the game.
In fact, coming on onto the field for that first drive, Murphy was loose and dancing. Sarkisian then called on him early and often, with nine pass attempts being called in the Longhorns' first 10 snaps - something that did not bother Murphy one bit.
“He believed in me,” Murphy said. “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.”
And that is what Texas and Sarkisian wanted to see out of a redshirt freshman making his first start.
Not a golden day in the stat book or even a mistake-free game. Yes, that would have been the cherry on top, but the important thing was that Murphy was ready for whatever was thrown his way... and he was.
Now, Murphy will look forward to a much more staunch opponent in the 7-1 Kansas State Wildcats in Austin next weekend.
And if he can improve on what was an already impressive debut, the Longhorns should find themselves in a nice position heading into Fort Worth to play TCU on Nov. 12.
