Texas Football: 4 takeaways from the Longhorns spring game

There were some exciting plays and highly-anticipated debuts in the Orange-White spring football game for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program on April 15. As Texas returned to some form of live-game action at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the first time since last fall against the Baylor Bears, the excitement of what’s to come for this football program was tangible on the Forty Acres this weekend.

Some of the biggest storylines heading into the spring game for the Longhorns included the debut of the No. 1 rated recruit in the nation in the 2023 class and true freshman quarterback Arch Manning, the development of redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers, and the progression on both sides of the ball in Year 3 under Sark.

We’ve heard a ton about all of the development of the talent and depth within the program this spring. It sounds like there is more optimism surrounding the direction of this program than we saw in each of the last few offseasons coming out of spring camp.

Takeaways from the anticipated Texas football spring game this weekend

With all of this in mind, here’s a look at four takeaways from the Orange-White Game for the Longhorns on April 15.

Maalik Murphy flashes with some beautiful deep passes

One of the biggest positives that came out of the spring game for me was the performance of redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy. The second-year quarterback and former blue-chip recruit out of California put on a show with some really nice throws, including a 79-yard bomb that went for a touchdown to true freshman early enrollee wide receiver Johntay Cook II.

We also saw Murphy make quite a few other nice throws and reads in the pocket. I really liked the patience, accuracy, and timing that Maalik put on display on an explosive play that went for a first down in the second half to fellow true freshman wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.

These live spring game reps for Maalik at DKR this weekend were extremely valuable given how limited he was during spring and fall camp last year. He also didn’t get any live-game reps last season during his true freshman campaign due to lingering injury issues.

Murphy was challenged this spring by Arch in a looming competition for the backup quarterback job behind Quinn Ewers. And I came out of the spring game thinking that Murphy looked a little bit more polished and consistent than Manning.