'Be Me!': Texas Longhorns QB Maalik Murphy Recaps First Start vs. BYU Cougars
AUSTIN, Texas -- Maalik Murphy brought the dance moves right before making the first start of his college career on Saturday against the BYU Cougars in Austin.
And after helping the No. 7 Texas Longhorns (7-1) blow past BYU (5-3) in a 35-6 win, the young quarterback has plenty of reasons to keep dancing, just as long as he's absorbing the valuable lessons of Saturday's win in the process.
“That's just my personality," Murphy said of his pre-snap dancing. "Going into it, the coaches told me, don't change, be me. So that's what I did, go out there dancing, having fun, and just enjoying my time out there.”
Murphy is now 1-0 as a starter. He finished Saturday 16 of 25 passing for 170 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also lost a fumble.
Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy (6) winds up to fire a pass in the fourth quarter of the Longhorns' game against the BYU Cougars at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
© Sara Diggins, Austin American-Statesman
The Longhorns put the ball in the air on eight of their first 10 offensive snaps. Murphy admitted that the early play-calling instilled even more confidence in himself.
“He believed in me,” Murphy said of coach Steve Sarkisian. “If he's able to script that many openers as passes for me in my first start, that kind of just tells me something that he's not letting off the gas and he believes in my ability. So that was huge.”
In a game that featured an Xavier Worthy punt return touchdown and a dominating defensive performance from Texas, some of Murphy's struggles might be masked by the convincing final score, though he's not shying away from the mistakes.
“It was a young mistake on my part, putting the ball in harm's way," he said of the interception. "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, keep our foot on the gas.”
Despite two first-half turnovers, Murphy displayed the poise that Sarkisian and the players had raved about leading up to Saturday. Many young quarterbacks might let a brutal interception like the one Murphy tossed in the first quarter get to their head in a negative way. A lost fumble in the red zone two possessions later certainly doesn't help heal any mental wounds.
But the lighthearted approach that Murphy brought to the game's first snap remained throughout. Even while facing tons of pressure in the pocket from the BYU defense after the two turnovers, he didn't take another sack following his lost fumble and helped the offense stay steady despite some more woes from the team in the red zone.
There's of course things to clean up. Murphy had a few non-fundamental throws off his back foot and made some questionable passes into the area of multiple defenders that luckily weren't intercepted. On the flip side, there were a couple of throws that likely should've resulted in a big play or touchdown, most notably the deep shot he had to Worthy in the end zone.
But the Longhorns are 7-1, and have a confident and loose quarterback at the helm. The biggest game of Murphy's young career will certainly test this confidence though, as the Kansas State Wildcats get set to visit Austin next Saturday looking to make a major statement in the Big 12 race.
