'Everyone In The Locker Room Loves' Texas Longhorns QB Maalik Murphy

Texas will have to turn to either Maalik Muprhy or Arch Manning after Quinn Ewers went down with an injury in the win over Houston.

The Texas Longhorns will be taking the field on Saturday against BYU with a new quarterback behind center following Quinn Ewers' sprained AC joint against Houston.

They have two viable options behind him, and based on what Steve Sarkisian told the media on Monday second-year signal caller Maalik Murphy is the frontrunner. The California native has been behind Ewers on the depth chart all season and has seen time in two games this season, and earned that role thanks to his stellar showing in the Longhorns' spring game. 

While many fans are clamoring for five-star Arch Manning to get the nod, unless something changes during the week it should be Murphy. Something that third-year defensive back Michael Taaffe supports, as he praised Murphy's hard work when speaking to the media recently.

"Yeah, he's the first one in the building last one out," said Taaffe. "I think everybody would say the same thing. Hands down one of the hardest workers on our team. You know, I think his confidence in himself to just know that he can make every throw on the field is really, really cool." 

"I think the other thing is the whole locker room loves him. I think everybody in the locker room would say that they have a personal connection with Maalik and that's really cool. You know, he's not a people pleaser, but he's just you know, he's a positive guy and everybody attracts towards him and wants to be around him and wants to be his friend."

Texas Longhorns Safety Michael Taaffe looks on during a game against Oklahoma State / USA Today Sports

Whether it be Murphy or Manning on Saturday, Texas is still favored by 17.5 according to ESPN, with ESPN's matchup predictor giving the Longhorns a 94.9% chance of winning. 

Sarkisian and company have also spent time adjusting the game plan and catering it towards the skillet of both Murphy and Manning. 

With Ewers out for an undisclosed period of time and listed as week-to-week, Texas' Big 12 title and College Football Playoff hopes are now squarely on the shoulders of one of their two youngsters who have yet to be formally introduced to the college level.