The Texas Longhorns defeated the BYU Cougars 35-6 on Saturday. Quarterback Maalik Murphy tagged his first career collegiate start for Texas in place of the injured Quinn Ewers.
Murphy had a very efficient day, throwing for 170 yards and two touchdowns with a 64% completion rate. Despite committing two turnovers, Murphy performed as well as one could hope for his first start.
The redshirt freshman played his role perfectly, managing the game effectively without trying to do anything extra to fill in for Ewers.
Murphy found wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the endzone twice during the game, the first one coming on a 3rd and 8 for a 30-yard touchdown.
Maalik Murphy finds Adonai Mitchell for his first career TD pass! pic.twitter.com/8z7yjAxfse
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) October 28, 2023
We don’t know if Ewers will be available next week for the Kansas State game. However, if Murphy starts, we can expect fewer turnovers as he will have had a week to review the game footage from his first start and refine his game.