Texas Football: Maalik Murphy stands out in practice this week

No. 7 Texas football will battle the BYU Cougars and head coach Kalani Sitake at home at DKR in Austin this weekend without redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers. Texas’ second-year starting quarterback suffered a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his right (throwing) shoulder in the narrow 31-24 win last weekend on the road over the Houston Cougars.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy got his first critical live-game snaps in conference play at quarterback to close out the Houston contest last weekend after Ewers was knocked out due to the shoulder injury. Murphy led two drives, one of which resulted in the game-winning touchdown for the Longhorns late in the fourth quarter.

True freshman running back CJ Baxter Jr. punched the ball in the end zone on a 16-yard run to give the Longhorns the 31-24 lead, which was the score the game would end with.

Texas football QB Maalik Murphy reportedly had a good week of practice heading into the BYU game

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian announced in his Thursday press conference on Oct. 26 that Murphy will get the start against BYU at home on Oct. 28 while Ewers is out with the shoulder injury. This will be Murphy’s first start of his collegiate career against BYU in Week 9.

Texas coaches and teammates expressing confidence in Murphy heading into his first start vs. BYU

Murphy will get his first opportunity to shine as Texas’ starting quarterback after battling for his spot as the backup QB and fighting through various injuries in the last couple of years. The respect Murphy has earned in the locker room from his teammates and his current and former coaches was on full display this week with how well various people in and around the program spoke of him.

Senior linebacker Jaylan Ford said this week that “we all have confidence in Maalik to lead the team” and that he’s “someone that people gravitate towards”.

Murphy has a strong week of practice in preparation for his first start

Murphy’s confidence was carried out on the practice field this week. Sark said in his Thursday press conference that Murphy had his “best practice since he’s been here” on Oct. 26.

Inside Texas confirmed (paid content) that Murphy had a good day of practice on Thursday, including a score in the two-minute drill against the first-team defense. Murphy was reportedly decisive and timely with his reads and throws during the two-minute drill in practice this week.

A question mark for Murphy heading into his first start in the BYU game is his ability to make the necessary reads and get the ball out on time while coming under pressure in the pocket. It is good to hear that Murphy is going through his reads and finding the right target to get the ball out to in the passing game in simulated live-game action in practice this week.

Texas is 6-1 (3-1 Big 12) heading into this contest against BYU (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin on Oct. 28. The Texas-BYU game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.