Greg McElroy Confident That Texas Longhorns Will Start Maalik Murphy Over Arch Manning

The Texas Longhorns will need to turn to Maalik Murphy or Arch Manning after starting quarterback Quinn Ewers went down with an injury.

The Texas Longhorns find themselves in a situation similar to one that they were in early lThe Texas Longhorns will need to turn to Maalik Murphy or Arch Manning after starting quarterback Quinn Ewers went down with an injury.ast season, which is starting quarterback Quinn Ewers going down with an injury.

The No. 7 Longhorns were viewed as having one of the easier paths to the College Football Playoff, and while they are still viewed as having a chance, they will be embarking on this journey with an inexperienced quarterback following the Ewers injury. The only question now is which quarterback will be filling in for Ewers. 

Second-year California native Maalik Murphy won the second-string gig in spring and showcased his huge arm during Texas' spring game. He has been the first guy off the bench when the Longhorns are blowing teams out, and finished out the rest of the Houston game this past week. On the other hand, the Longhorns have five-star and former No. 1 overall recruit Arch Manning who is also vying for the role this weekend as Texas prepares for BYU.

ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy made it clear who he thinks should get the nod on his podcast College Football Live. When asked if Manning should start, McElroy was adamant it's not his time yet.

“No,” said McElroy. “No, no, absolutely not. … It’s Maalik Murphy’s show. They’ve said that from the spring.”

Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy  / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

While it's less than ideal that over halfway through the season Texas is now having to start over at quarterback, there is a silver lining which is the fact that BYU isn't known for having a lockdown defense. In fact, the Cougars rank No. 95 in total defense and No. 98 in passing yards allowed with nearly 250 yards given up per game.

The message out of Austin has been that Murphy and Manning will get work with the first team, but if the game was played at this moment, Murphy would get the nod.