Maalik Murphy Throws Late TD, Texas Longhorns Lead BYU Cougars at Halftime

The Texas Longhorns took a commanding lead into halftime of Saturday's game against the BYU Cougars.

AUSTIN, Texas - With a happy and dancing Maalik Murphy leading the way and a big team effort in all three phases, the Texas Longhorns built a 21-3 halftime lead over the BYU Cougars in Austin on Saturday.

Sparked by an early 75-yard punt return touchdown from Xavier Worthy and some suffocating defense, the Longhorns got off to a nice start despite the large presence of blue BYU gear throughout the stadium.

Murphy, who is making his first-career collegiate start on Saturday in place of the injured Quinn Ewers, had some good throws to start but had his share of mistakes. 

He connected with receiver Adonai Mitchell and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders for gains of 16 and 20 yards respectively, but also tossed a brutal interception right into the arms of safety Crew Wakley and lost a fumble in the red zone at the start of the second quarter. Murphy made up for it at the end of the half with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell.

Maalik Murphy / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Murphy finished the first half 10 of 15 passing for 103 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Luckily for the Longhorns, Murphy's pick didn't lead to any BYU points, as cornerback Terrance Brooks intercepted Cougars quarterback Kedon Slovis just two plays after Murphy's pick.

The 40-yard interception return led to a short field for the Longhorns, who used a six-play scoring drive to take a 14-0 lead after Texas running back Jonathon Brooks powered into the end zone from four yards out.

However, his fumble allowed the Cougars to put together their best drive of the first half on a 15-play, 64-yard possession that soaked up nearly 10 minutes of game clock, but only resulted in a 24-yard field goal.

BYU will receive the second-half kickoff.