Big 12 Football Game of the Week: BYU at #7 Texas

Maalik Murphy is making his first career start against BYU on Saturday.

The seventh-ranked Longhorns received less than fantastic news this week when Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that star quarterback Quinn Ewers suffered a shoulder injury in the team's win over Houston that would keep him out for an extended period of time. Texas is in the thick of a hunt for a playoff spot, so losing a starting quarterback hurts. But having Maalik Murphy to step in makes it hurt a lot less.

Maalik Murphy will make his first collegiate start as Texas hosts BYU in our Big 12 Game of the Week / © Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Murphy has never started a college football game and has only attempted eight passes in his career, but the 6'5 signal-caller's upside should excite Texas fans. Murphy was a four-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting cycle and redshirted his first year in Austin. Despite the Longhorns landing Ewers out of the portal and Arch Manning out of high school (both five stars), Murphy elected to stay at Texas and compete for playing time. Now, he has his chance. 

That chance comes against BYU, the most up-and-down team in the entire conference. After beating Arkansas in Fayetteville, the Cougars lost to Kansas in Lawrence, beat Cincinnati, and got absolutely demolished by a TCU that we have since discovered is not a good football team. There is no better response to a bad loss than a good win, and that is what BYU did with its 27-14 win over Texas Tech. In front of them now is Texas, the Cougars' biggest challenge yet. 

You may be thinking that BYU can take advantage of a backup quarterback who has never started a collegiate game before. Well, you're wrong. Josh Hoover started his first career game for TCU against the Cougars two weeks ago and absolutely dominated them. He threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns in the Horned Frogs' win, so the question is, can BYU learn from its shortcomings and make Murphy uncomfortable?

There is no shortage of interesting storylines in this game. How good is Maalik  Murphy? Can Texas survive without Quinn Ewers? If things go south for the Longhorns, is an Arch Manning debut in the cards? Is BYU good or bad (seriously, I cannot tell)? Unless the Cougars find their way into the SEC, this is the one and only conference matchup between these teams, and it should be a good one. 

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